Canon Inc reports that it’s developing a high-sensitivity network camera, with a high-magnification lens capable of long-range colour image capture even at night. This is to make possible the viewing of subjects that the naked eye would have trouble discerning, such as at night with few ambient light sources. The camera’s imaging capabilities will make it suited the company says for such surveillance applications as crime prevention and the monitoring of natural disaster sites, enabling the viewing of scenes during night or day.
Drawing on a range of optical technologies Canon has cultivated over many years, the network camera being developed will feature a large-aperture ultra-telephoto zoom lens with a focal length of more than 600 mm (35 mm film equivalent) that achieves a bright F-value of 2.4 to allow large amounts of light to enter. The lens will incorporate aspherical and UD (Ultra Low Dispersion) lens elements that suppress the incidence of chromatic aberrations, which become more prevalent as a lens’s aperture size increases, while making possible a compact lens unit. The makers say that the large-aperture lens with a high-sensitivity sensor and image processor will enable the colour recognition of a subject’s face at a distance of 100m even in the dark, with a mere 0.08 lux of illumination, roughly equivalent to the illuminance of moonlight. By comparison, conventional night-time surveillance to date has only been possible within a limited range with the aid of infra-red light, or by using a night mode that only captures images in black and white.
Besides monitoring of natural disasters involving rivers or bays, for example, the camera will be suited for such applications as urban surveillance from the rooftops according to the firm; and for identifying car license plate numbers on roads, not only by day, but also in settings in which night-time surveillance is required.
Canon aims to commercialise the new network camera in 2016.
