Live From Photonics West 2012: Camera Comparison — Three-Chip CCD Vs. Single-Chip CMOS
Paul Dempster of Toshiba’s Imaging Systems Division demonstrates the sensitivity and color accuracy advantages of the company’s three-chip high-definition video technology by comparing the performance of Toshiba’s new IK-HD1 three-chip CCD camera with its IK-HR1 single-chip CMOS camera.
Video Transcript
Paul Dempster: My name is Paul Dempster. I’m the director of sales and marketing for Toshiba's Imaging Systems Division. We’re the leading supplier of high-definition video cameras used in a variety of environments, including surgical imaging, microscopy, and especially broadcast, machine vision, and other industrial applications where high-definition video and color sensitivity are of particular importance. I would like to invite you in and show you some of the advantages of our three-chip high-definition video technology.
What you’re seeing here is an example of our two sensor technology cameras. We have a three-chip CCD camera, our IK-HD1, and our single-chip high-definition CMOS camera, our IK-HR1. We are able to demonstrate the advantages of our three-chip CCD technology particularly as it relates to sensitivity and color accuracy, which are very important to a lot of markets, such as microscopy and surgical imaging.
The main advantage of the three-chip is in terms of as we get into lower light situations. You can see on the display that as I turn the light down, the CMOS camera on the right side starts to lose some of its color sensitivity. It has adjusted the shutter to compensate as much as possible, whereas the three-chip CCD still has very good color definition, very low noise.
As I put a cover over our test bay, you can see the CMOS in particular loses almost all of its color - much more noise in the background - whereas the three-chip CCD has a very good color spectrum across all ranges - very quiet image. As our market applications change, we’re doing more nonvisible light imaging. This sensitivity becomes of particular importance for fluorescence imaging, for example, where you have very low light conditions, and having the added benefit of color sensitivity in low light and low noise is a great advantage. And that’s a key advantage of Toshiba’s three-chip CCD technology.
Thank you for considering Toshiba for any of your high-definition video camera needs. We’ll be happy to talk to you and understand your specific applications and requirements. I’m sure we have a camera that would work for you.