A three-figure megapixel count is no longer unheard of on high-end cameras, but one company is claiming that it has a camera with the highest resolution backside-illuminated sensor yet. The German company XIMEA has announced a prototype camera with a whopping 246.7MP medium format sensor – which is 19,000 by 12,800 pixels.
Announced on Tuesday, April 1, the XIMEA MX2457 is a prototype camera module that can capture those high-resolution files as quick as 10 fps. While April Fools Day is perhaps the worst day to announce a new product, the MX2457 doesn’t appear to be a joke – it uses the Sony IMX811 sensor that Sony announced last year.
Now, that 246.7MP sensor, which is believed to be the highest resolution sensor with a backlit design yet has been incorporated into a camera. Sadly, it’s not the sort of camera that creatives can get their hands on, but it is designed for use in industrial projects like outdoor 3D mapping and videogrammetry.
Despite not being available for photography, the XIMEA MX2457 is an exciting look at what could soon be possible for futuristic camera technology. Higher resolution medium format sensors tend to be far slower than low resolution counterparts, but the industrial camera manages a speed of 10 fps. The camera uses a fan module to reduce heat, but can also be paired with a water cooling module.
The camera also uses a PCIe Gen 3 interface, which allows for direct memory access data transfers. The company says that allows for a low latency and CPU load, along with allowing for multi-camera setups.
XIMEA says that the camera could be used in applications like machine vision, medical imaging, research, and security as well as industrial applications.
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