The sensor is the so-called APS-H size and measures 29.2-mm by 20.2-mm and contains 13,280 by 9,184 pixels (121.96 million pixels). The advantage of such a extremely high-resolution sensor is that images can still be at high resolution – similar to film quality – after zooming and cropping, Canon said.

Canon's highest-resolution commercial CMOS sensor of the same size contains about 16.1 million pixels, the company said. Therefore the newly developed sensor features a pixel count that is nearly 7.5 times larger and offers a 2.4-fold improvement in resolution.

As CMOS sensors increase in resolution high pixel counts can result in problems with bandwidth getting signals off chip, large pin counts and signal delays and minor deviations in timing. By modifying the method employed to control the readout circuit timing, Canon has achieved a maximum output speed of approximately 9.5 frames per second on the latest sensor, supporting the continuous shooting of ultra-high-resolution images.

The sensor also supports full high-definition video (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) output. The sensor can output full HD video from any approximately one-sixtieth-sized section of its total surface area.

Canon did not state how soon it expected to put the sensor into commercial production or deploy it in cameras. Canon developed an APS-H-sized sensor with approximately 50 million pixels in 2007 but its highest-resolution commercial CMOS sensor, employed in the company's EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR cameras, is a larger device, equivalent to the full-frame size of the 35-mm film format incorporating approximately 21.1 million pixels, the company said.

By: DocMemory
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