rewrite this title Canon pushes the limits of 35mm with record-breaking 410-megapixel sensor

What just happened? Canon has announced a 410-megapixel CMOS image sensor, setting a new record for the most number of pixels on a 35mm full-frame sensor. Before getting too excited, you should know that the sensor is destined for applications like surveillance, industrial imaging, and medicine that demand extreme resolution rather can consumer-grade cameras.

The 410-megapixel (24,592 x 16,704 pixels) sensor boasts a resolution that is 198 times greater than Full HD, and 12 times higher than 8K. With it, users should be able to crop any part of an image without a significant drop in quality.

Canon said the new sensor utilizes a back-illuminated stacked formation in which the signal processing element and pixel segment are interlayered. The imaging specialist also had to redesign the circuitry pattern, which enabled a super fast readout speed of 3,280 megapixels per second.

Super-high pixel count sensors already exist in medium- or larger formats, but fitting this level of resolution into a 35mm sensor is unprecedented and will help contribute to the miniaturization of shooting equipment, Canon said.

Full-color and monochrome versions of the sensor will be available. The latter will additionally feature a four-pixel binning function that effectively treats four pixels as one – a trick we’ve seen smartphone image sensors use to boost performance, especially in low light situations. Canon said that when this feature is in use, the sensor can capture 100-megapixel video at 24 frames per second. Otherwise, video is limited to eight frames per second.

Canon has been pushing the bounds of what’s possible with imaging tech for a while now. Late last year, the company showed off a 250-megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor intended for industrial inspection applications. On the consumer side, we got a new EOS R series camera aimed at entry-level photographers wanting to step up from a smartphone.

Canon will showcase its new sensor at the SPIE Photonics West conference for optics and photonics. The show starts on January 28 and runs through the 30th in San Francisco.