New SMPD Photo Detector makes flash obsolete! Cameraphones to benefit!
By Will Park on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 5:44 PM PST In Announcements, Research, Technologies
Korea’s government laboratory, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, has developed what they call a Single-carrier Modulation Photo Detector (SMPD) chip that can work in extremely low-light conditions. The new technology basically obsoletes the need for flash photography, especially on mobile phones. The new chip can collect enough picture data from 1 lux (1 candle’s worth of light) environments to take a decent photograph or video clip – resulting from 2,000 times greater sensitivity to light! The Korean laboratory spent 11 billion won ($10.5 million USD) in research and development costs, but expects to recoup that cost to the tune of about 2 trillion won ($2.2 billion USD) every year.
It’s about time. We’re tired of lackluster performance from our camera phones!
via: dailytech
