Just when you thought your hard drive was big enough.....

[miketoll]

Where will the mega pixel race all end?
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1008/10...20mpsensor.asp

[Don Hoey]

I did not realise they had developed a 50mp job never mind this.

Not only computing power to consider but diffraction limit and lens resolution I would think.

Don

[Alex1994]

Surely cramming more pixels can't be that useful, I'd have thought that sensor area was more important...ah well at least it isn't coming to a camera shop near me =)

[Don Hoey]

Press talk seems to suggest the 50mp is aimed at medical equipment, so perhaps this is also research for a similar application.

Don

[surfg1mp]

Id imagine the average consumer would have to remorgage to afford one of those.

[Alex1994]

It's the future though, currently our HDs and CPUs can't handle it, but HD space and computer power increasing so fast it will possibly be normal to have 50MP digital files. Already you can get 3TB of storage for under £150.

[yelvertoft]

I think Don's raised the most valid point here. We're all thinking "dSLR" type applications, wheras there are many, many more applications for digital sensors, some of which will need this kind of resolution. For a high-end imaging machine, manufacturer's will pay the price it costs, and apply the processing required to use it. The signal processor costs for high end medical imaging technology will dwarf the cost of the sensor itself.

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Alex1994

It's the future though, currently our HDs and CPUs can't handle it, but HD space and computer power increasing so fast it will possibly be normal to have 50MP digital files. Already you can get 3TB of storage for under £150.

Do not get too excited Alex.
As the number of pixels increases then the diffraction limit will reduce. My Nikon DX 12mp sensor has a proven diffraction limit from my tests of f11. Put 50mp onto a sensor of the same size and that would probably have a diffraction limit of f5.6, and 120mp f4 or wider. So very far from ideal in photographic terms.
If you are unsure of diffraction. It is the point at which closing the lens down further does not increase resolution, and in fact the image gets progressivly softer the further you do stop down. There is a thread on this somewhere.

Then separately you have to consider lens resolution. I am sure 50mp on a similar sensor size will stretch even the very best current photographic lenses, never mind 120mp.

From a photographic viewpoint though, results from that sort research is bound to trickle its way down into stills and motion camera sensors.

Don

[robski]

Also it maybe intended for shorter wave lenght - higher frequency light sources.

It may not have a lens made of glass.

Semiconductor - micro chip production now use UV on the photomask because the transistor features have become so small.

[Don Hoey]

Going back to find things really shows up some old threads that are well worth looking at again. How time has flown by since WPF started.

This is the one covering diffraction
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1186

Don