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Elite Microwave offers a
wide range of Intensified Digital Sensors (IDS).
IDS are the basis of many
security and surveillance sensor systems as well as remote sensors for
object security. Compared to conventional systems, IDS require less
electronics to achieve better performance and they can be customised to
match your specific requirements.
The small dimensions and
rugged component structure allow system integrators to construct compact
and high performance digital systems. Optional embedded camera system
accommodate all the necessary functionality to facilitate a wide variety
of signal output standards.
Add to this our Autogated
power supply and you will extend the dynamic range of the system from
low light-level conditions to broad daylight.
CMOS vs. CCD
Most intensified cameras use
CCD sensors, with fiberoptic tapers glued directly to the chip surfaces.
This provides more efficient coupling than lenses, if used for
transferring an MCP output image to the sensor surface. CMOS image
sensors (as compared to CCD) are usually "cameras-on-a-chip", with all
analog circuitry hidden inside, requiring just single low-voltage power
supply, accepting digital commands and generating digital output.
You usually pay a price
for convenience - lower sensitivity and higher fixed-pattern noise -
pixel-to-pixel variation of sensitivity and dark signal (pixel value
when no light is applied).
CMOS sensors need a usefull
amount of light to perform and our Image Intensifiers produce enough
light for use with CMOS . "Enough" means that increasing sensor
sensitivity will not produce additional information (because of the
quantum nature of light detection on the MCP input) - similar to trying
to increase contrast of a digital image when you already see
brightness/color bands (steps) if the original image is too dim.
The limited dynamic range of
CMOS digital outputs (usually 8-10 bits) perfectly matches (even
slightly exceeds) that of the MCP. The fixed-pattern noise of these
sensors is masked by that of superposition of patterns of micro-channels
in MCP, fibers in its output (fiberoptic) window, fibers in the coupling
taper and pixels in a sensor chip.
Note that fixed-pattern
noise only looks nasty on the raw images; it is not a real (random)
noise, and may be eliminated without any information loss by per-pixel
calibration - a simple operation for a camera that has sufficient
computational power and memory for storing an array of coefficients.
IDS offer the possibility of
remote or shared observation - an essential feature in surveillance and
defence applications, when the discretion and safety of the observer is
paramount.
IDS also allow electronic
video processing (computed colours, symbology...) and sensor fusion
(e.g. thermal imagery and image intensification) and projection of all
that aggregated data on a HUD-type of viewer.
The design of each element
of an IDS (IIT, CCD or CMOS and video processing electronics) must be
carefully tailored for each application.
Specifications of
ICMOS
ICMOS applications are build
to match your specific requirements. At Elite Microwave we have the
expertise to bond virtually any Image Intensifier to any CMOS - however
- before we do so we would like to discuss with you your exact
requirements. This "build-to-match" will not only reduce the inclusion
of needless components and unnecessary cost - but it will also ensure
the optimum solution for your application |
The
XR5™ Image Intensifier reveals more details of the night and offers
eXtended Range capabilities.
The
introduction of the XD-4™ technology set the new European standard for
low-light-level imaging.
Around
the world many of our customers rely on the performance of our
"Inverter"-Series of image intensifiers.
The
ICU (Intensified Camera Unit) is a new generation of low light level,
fully automatic, gated intensified CMOS camera. With it's technology,
small package size and low power consumption the ICU is a very
powerful tool to meet the demanding requirements of today's defence
imaging systems.
In
the SuperGen Image Intensifier we combined the improved sensitivity of
GEN II with a best-of-class