China develops 100-megapixel camera

BEIJING - A Chinese institute has successfully developed a camera featuring a 100-megapixel charge-coupled device (CCD) chip, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced on Wednesday.

It is currently China's highest pixel camera, the academy said in a statement.

The camera, IOE3-Kanban, was developed by the Institute of Optics and Electronics under the CAS and is capable of producing images with 10,240 x 10,240 pixels, the statement said.

Moreover, it is small and light, with its widest part measuring only 19.3 cm, the statement said, adding that it can be used at temperatures ranging from minus 20 degrees centigrade to 55 degrees centigrade.

Its high sensitivity and high dynamic range (HDR) features mean it will be useful in high-resolution imaging in the fields of aerial mapping, city planning, disaster monitoring and intelligent transportation systems, the statement said.

The statement said the camera is equipped with advanced optical systems, camera control systems and high-capacity data recording systems, and it has proven successful in a recent trial use as a part of a national aerial remote-sensing system.

According to the statement, the institute also developed an 81-megapixel camera during the 10th Five Year Plan period (2001-2005), and the latest achievement took the researchers two years to develop.