14 DAY TRIAL // British researchers announce the development of a new class of photographic technology, which allows for high-resolution images to be snapped alongside a very high-speed video. The innovation could have significant applications in a variety of scientific fields, as well as for a number of technological processes, and for end-consumer applications. The work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the British Heart Foundation at the University of Oxford. The components in the new system are not difficult to procure, the experts say.
In fact, most of them are bought from stores. Technologies that usually make their way into photo cameras and video projectors have now been combined in a new manner that allows the observation system to produce its amazing results. The innovation could considerably boost and detail various types of scientific imaging, and could also enable the consumer market to gain access (price-wise) to cameras that produce high-speed video with high-resolution, still images at the same time. Currently, the very same thing is very expensive to achieve with existing methods.
The technology-transfer office at the University of Oxford, Isis Innovation, has already patented the new system, and is currently awaiting for industry partners to invest in bringing this new technology to the masses. Details of how the system functions were published in the February 14 issue of the respected scientific journal Nature Methods. The researchers at the university say that they have created the new tool because they are aware of the delicate balance between speed and detail in imaging, and also on account of the fact that many people are looking precisely for what the new system has to offer.
“Anyone who has ever tried to take photographs or video of a high-speed scene, like football or motor racing, even with a fairly decent digital SLR, will know that it's very difficult to get a sharp image because the movement causes blurring. We have the same problem in science, where we may miss really vital information like very rapid changes in intensity of light from fluorescent molecules that tell us about what is happening inside a cell. Having a massive 10 or 12 megapixel sensor, as many cameras now do, does absolutely nothing to improve this situation,” team leader Dr. Peter Kohl says.
“What's new about this is that the picture and video are captured at the same time on the same sensor. This is done by allowing the camera's pixels to act as if they were part of tens, or even hundreds of individual cameras taking pictures in rapid succession during a single normal exposure. The trick is that the pattern of pixel exposures keeps the high resolution content of the overall image, which can then be used as-is, to form a regular high-res picture, or be decoded into a high-speed movie,” team member Dr. Gil Bub concludes.