Kodak spin-off launches CMOS sensor

The new 12 megapixel KAC-12040 CMOS Image Sensor

While the Kodak moment may be firmly a thing of the past, at least part of its business is still going strong: sensor manufacturer (and Digital Bolex supplier) Truesense was spun off just before the bankruptcy of its parent and has just released its first 4K-capable CMOS sensor amongst other things.

All in all there are three new products released by the company for production: the 12 megapixel KAC-12040 CMOS Image Sensor, the 1080p KAI-02170 Interline CCD Image Sensor, and the 4 megapixel KAI-04070 Interline CCD Image Sensor.

The 12 megapixel (4000 x 3000) KAC-12040 Image Sensor is the first in a planned family of CMOS devices according to the company and is the pick of the bunch. For those who like a lot of detail about such things, based on a 4.7 micron pixel architecture, the 4/3 optical format sensor features very fast frame rate, excellent NIR sensitivity, and flexible readout modes with multiple regions of interest (ROI). The readout architecture enables use of 8, 4, or 2 LVDS output banks for full resolution readout up to 70 frames per second.

Even more detail on this and the other sensors is available in the Truesense press release and it will be interesting to see how many camera manufacturers pick up on them, though the fact that evaluation kits are available for all three devices that allow imaging performance to be quickly examined in detail without the need to develop a full camera design will probably help matters along.