Panasonic Develops Long-range TOF Image Sensor
This new image sensor is capable of detecting objects 250 m ahead at night with poor visibility and achieves high resolution by adopting APD with 250,000 pixels
Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has developed a time-of-flight (TOF) image sensor [2] that uses avalanche photodiode (APD) [1] pixels and is capable of capturing range imaging of objects up to 250 m even at night with poor visibility. The sensor can be applied in a variety of fields including automotive range imaging and wide-area surveillance in the dark.
The newly developed TOF image sensor directly measures the time-of-flight of light between an object and the sensor at all the pixels and collectively obtains 3D range images for short to long distances. The use of APDs, which amplify input signals, as the photodetector and the incorporation of an in-pixel circuit that integrates weak input signals, and it enables the 3D range imaging of a place 250 m ahead. In addition, the new sensor has achieved the integration of the world’s best 250,000 pixels*1 through the lamination of the electron multiplier and the electron storage as well as the area reduction of APD pixels. This has enabled long-range and high-resolution 3D range imaging, which was difficult previously. Read More
