We know that the imaging principle of the camera is somewhat similar to the small hole imaging we learned when we went to school. Light is passed through the lens and projected onto the photosensitive device. Traditional film begins to react chemically, while modern electronic components convert optical signals into electrical signals. The camera has evolved over the years from the film era to the digital age. The photosensitive device still uses a flat design. The biggest problem with this design is that when light is transmitted through the lens to the sensor surface, the distance between the center and the edge will be different. The position of the edge is distorted, the corners are out of light, and the sharpness is lowered. There are also more obvious purple fringes and the like.
In order to improve this situation, the usual practice is to improve the lens structure design and materials. Some high-end lenses are due to the use of complex structural design and expensive materials to improve edge distortion and sharpness degradation. However, the planar sensor design is bound to cause light to pass through the lens to the center of the sensor and the distance between the edges is not the same, it is basically impossible to completely eliminate this gap through the lens. However, the patent for curved surface sensors has emerged. Can it correct this defect and improve the problem of large edge distortion and poor image quality?
1, the principle of the surface sensor:
Because of the characteristics of the curved surface, the surface sensor is refracted to the same distance from each point. The lens does not need to be specially designed for the problem of insufficient edge resolution. While greatly simplifying the structural design, the edge quality has been significantly improved. At the same time, compared with the traditional flat sensor, the overall picture resolution is more uniform and the picture quality is better. In addition to improving edge quality and distortion, the use of curved sensors has the added benefit of reducing lens design. Just design the lens first, then determine the degree of bending of the sensor based on the phase field.
2, the advantages and disadvantages of the surface sensor:
advantage:
1. Reduce the difficulty of lens design and manufacturing
2. The edge image quality is obviously improved, and the overall picture resolution is more uniform.
3. The lens aperture for curved sensors is larger than the usual lens.
4. The lens size suitable for curved sensors is smaller than the usual lens.
Disadvantages:
At present, it seems that the curved sensor can only be applied to the matching lens. If other lenses are used, it is likely to have strange distortion. Therefore, the surface sensor will be the first to be applied to mobile phones and non-replaceable lens cameras (like the RX1 series) without any surprise.
3. Each family has successively introduced patents for curved surface sensors:
Sony
It is worthy of being a sensor manufacturer. Sony announced the patent for surface sensor deformation technology in September 2012. Sony sensor deformation technology uses electromagnetic force, thermal expansion and contraction, vacuum and other external forces to deform the sensor within a certain range to correct the curvature of the lens field and improve the image quality of the wide-angle lens. After losing the external force, it can also be restored to the shape of a normal flat sensor.
Then in December 2012, Sony's surface sensor special lens patent was released, designed for 1.4" and below sensors, combined with Sony curved CMOS sensor, can effectively eliminate field curvature and improve edge quality.
However, from the data display, the new lenses and their corresponding sensor sizes are very small, according to this speculation, this technology is more likely to be used in smart phones, webcams and other fields.
Then in April 2013, Sony unveiled a new patent for a special lens for curved sensors. The new patent has optimized and corrected the lens surface curvature problem.
An important turning point occurred in June 2014, when Sony engineers used bionics to develop a curved CMOS image sensor that mimics the shape of the human eye. It was presented at the 2014 Super Large Integral Technology and Circuits Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii. This CMOS diagonal is 43mm long and can be used in full-frame digital cameras. In addition to this, there is a curved surface sensor with a diagonal length of 11mm 2/3", which is specially used for mobile phone cameras. Although we have seen a true curved surface sensor, it is a pity that the first product equipped with this sensor is delayed. Did not appear.
Canon
Canon's recent actions on curved sensors are also not small. First, in October this year, Japan announced its patented curved sensor technology. This patent mainly uses a magnetic system to deform the sensor.
Soon after, Canon unveiled its own patents for two curved sensors in Japan, namely a full-surface sensor and an edge-bending sensor, which are reported to be in the research and development stage. It is worth mentioning that if you use the full surface method, Canon must design a new camera system and lens system for it, while the edge bending sensor does not. The edge bend sensor is only curved at the edge position, and the center position is still flat. The biggest advantage of this method is that the existing lens group can be utilized.
Not finished yet, Canon recently announced its patent for a new curved sensor. The patent for the curved surface sensor announced this time is similar to the previous method. It uses electromagnetic to change the curvature of the sensor. The difference is that the sensor can be freely converted between the plane and the surface. In order to apply the current lens, the sensor can be kept horizontal. When a new lens that can be applied to a curved sensor appears, the magnetic force can be used to change the curvature of the sensor.
According to the patent description, this is a new type of sensor that can be freely converted between a flat sensor and a curved sensor. The biggest benefit of this patent is that it is compatible with current Canon EF lenses as well as future curved sensor lens systems. But Canon's current problem is that these are still patents. It is estimated that we may not see the fuselage with this sensor in a short time. I can only look forward to it.
Toshiba
Toshiba recently unveiled a patent for curved sensors. But this patent is for smartphone design. This sensor simulates the principle of human eye imaging and can improve image quality as much as possible in low light conditions. I don't know which model Toshiba will apply to this model in the future.
Microsoft
Unexpectedly, Microsoft actually disclosed the patent for the curved sensor anti-shake system at the beginning of the 16th year! The main design idea is to rotate, rather than shifting like a normal planar sensor. At the same time, it is also feasible to design a zoom lens for a curved sensor. I thought that Sony would add anti-shake on the surface sensor that has been successfully developed. I didn't expect it to be taken over by Microsoft. I just don't know what plans Microsoft has, and I plan to apply it to the future Windows Phone camera.
Nikon
Nikon's many camera product sensors are all provided by Sony, but everyone knows about Nikon's patents similar to curved sensors. It can be seen that Nikon does not want to be subject to the sensor, and is likely to increase investment and research work in the future. I feel that Nikon still has a lot to go on in terms of sensors. Come on!
4. Summary:
In general, the surface sensor has obvious advantages over the traditional flat sensor. In addition to significantly improving the edge quality and improving the distortion, it also greatly reduces the difficulty of lens design and manufacturing. I believe that there will be many smaller lenses with larger apertures for curved sensors in the future. However, at present, many manufacturers still stay at the stage of patents for curved sensors. Even Sony, just with a curved sensor to meet with you. I believe everyone is more concerned about when the body equipped with this sensor appears. However, since we can feel the high attention paid to the surface sensor technology, I believe that as the technology becomes more and more mature, the digital camera and smartphone equipped with this sensor will meet with us soon. Surface sensors may be the next key to driving the revolution in imaging.
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