Sharp Sensor Rivals 35-mm Film

Herman L. Peek and associates at Philips Semiconductors Image Sensors in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, have developed a full-frame charge-coupled device with the image quality of standard 35-mm film. The researchers presented their findings at a meeting of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Washington on Dec. 8, 1999.

The sensor is a 2048 x 3072 array of 3-µm-sq pixels, developed with frame-transfer technology.

Decreasing the size of the pixels and increasing their number, said Peek, results in an imager that produces black-and-white images with the sharpness of film.

The team hopes to incorporate microlenses and filters for color imaging.