June 19th, 2009
Light sensor discovery could revolutionize digital cameras
One of the biggest hindrances to beautiful pictures on a digital camera is lighting. Even if you set the shutter speed, focus and whatever other mode manually, unless you have a tripod handy, chances are your photo could come out blurry or shaky if you’re in a place with low light. Could that all change soon?
Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered possible advancements in the performance of electronics, specifically that of digital cameras. This team has created a light sensor from multi-exciton generation (MEG), which essentially “breaks the conventional rules that bind traditional semiconductor devices.” In current camera models, photons are absorbed by a semiconductor to generate excitons. Normally, however, each photon is converted into at most one exciton, lowering the efficiency of solar cells and limiting the sensitivity of digital cameras to light. But with more excitons generated, the more efficient the camera is at producing better pictures.
For more on this discovery, check out the full press release at Science Daily.
Rachel started playing with her mother's old Brownie camera when she was just a toddler, working her way up from a Hello Kitty point-and-shoot to training on both film and digital SLRs. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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