sensors

Eizo Nanao has announced the inclusion of an "EcoView Sense" feature into its just announced FlexScan monitors, the 20-inch EV2023W and the 23-inch EV2303W.

The EcoView feature allows the monitors--using motion detectors--to detect if a person is sitting in front of it.

If it senses for 40 seconds that no one is there, it puts the monitor into sleep mode. It then resumes normal operation when the user returns. For example, it won't be fooled by such shenanigans as leaving a cardboard cutout of yourself in front of it. It will only resume if there is movement … Read more

Wireless-sensor start-up Arch Rock thinks it has found a killer application: measuring energy use in commercial buildings.

The company on Monday introduced Energy Optimizer, a product line that combines its Internet Protocol-based sensors with server software for collecting and analyzing energy data.

The sensors can be attached to different circuits in a data center, for example, to measure electricity consumption over time.

Because they have radios to transmit information, the installation doesn't require laying new wires into a building, Arch Rock CEO Roland Acra said. And because they are IP-based, they can be managed on an existing corporate network, … Read more

If you've ever had a tired cyclist--or worse, a tired driver--careen into your car door as you open it, you'll appreciate a new prototype being developed in Germany. It's a new technology that lets doors resist being opened when they sense an oncoming hazard.

BMW's Michael Graf and a team at the Technical University of Munich are pioneering the project, which uses ultrasonic sensors to detect hazards approaching a vehicle. When they see an oncoming cyclist, or van, or bears, a bar running through the car door prevents it from being opened.

So far, the results … Read more

Phase One, a Copenhagen-based maker of professional-grade digital camera technology, has invested in and assumed some control over Japanese camera maker Mamiya.

Phase One and Mamiya already had a partnership for one medium-format camera through a partnership begun in 2006, but now the alliance is much tighter, with Phase One in the driver's seat for some key areas, Phase One said Wednesday.

"Phase One is making a significant financial investment in Mamiya Digital Imaging, thus becoming a major shareholder in the company behind the Mamiya brand of medium-format cameras and lenses," Phase One said in a statement. &… Read more

There are many challenges in waging war for oil, not the least of which is fighting in a big sandbox--it's hard on soldiers and it's murder on helicopters.

Enter the Sandblaster. This is a helicopter avionics system commissioned by DARPA that integrates advanced flight controls, a "see-through" sensor, synthetic vision and data fusion to allow the pilots to fly safely in a zero-visibility, howling haboob, according to Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.

Using the Sikorsky system, the pilot has only to press a button to bring the chopper from en-route flight to a low, non-drift hover over a … Read more

To make buildings more efficient, Regen Energy is equipping them with a bunch of miniature brains--in the form of wireless mini-controllers.

The Toronto-based start-up announced on Monday partnerships with solar energy-monitoring firm Fat Spaniel Technologies and with carbon-management software company Zerofootprint to optimize buildings for efficiency and clean power production.

There are already automation systems that allow commercial building managers to view data from HVAC systems or lights and set policies to improve energy efficiency.

Regen Energy CEO and co-founder Mark Kerbel asserts that its system of building a "swarm" of autonomous controllers is a quicker and less … Read more

Three midrange Sony SLRs now are included in DxO Labs' measurements of image sensor performance, and the Alpha A700 proves to be reasonably competitive.

Sony's A700, which costs about $1,100 with an 18-70mm lens, has a score of 66.3 on the test, which calculates how well the sensor handles color, a range brightness and darkness, and low-light shooting. That puts it behind the top-scoring camera with a comparably sized sensor, the Nikon D90, almost ties it with the Pentax K10D and Nikon D300, and gives it a a few points' lead over Canon's 40D and 50D.

Meanwhile, the A200 scores 62.9 and the A300 an even 64, according to the DxOMark Sensor test results that were updated Tuesday. A five-point difference makes a difference of about 1/3 stop in exposure, DxO says, meaning that a higher-scoring camera can attain the same raw image quality as a rival even though the higher-scoring camera is using a faster exposure or higher ISO.

DxO Labs, a French company, makes a business of measuring camera image quality, developing technology for image-processing hardware and software, and selling software to convert the raw files produced by higher-end cameras into less flexible but more convenient formats such as JPEG. The DxOMark score measures sensor performance based on the raw file, a foundation for overall image quality but only a facet of a camera's overall performance. … Read more

A correction has been made to this story. See below for details.

LAS VEGAS--Olympus has declared an end to the megapixel race.

"Twelve megapixels is, I think, enough for covering most applications most customers need," said Akira Watanabe, manager of Olympus Imaging's SLR planning department, in an interview here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA). "We have no intention to compete in the megapixel wars for E-System," Olympus' line of SLR cameras, he said.

Instead, Olympus will focus on other characteristics such as dynamic range, color reproduction, and a better ISO range for low-light shooting, he said.

Increasing the number of megapixels on cameras is an easy selling point for camera makers, in part because it's a simple concept for people to understand. Even though having more megapixels can enable larger prints and enlargement of subject matter through cropping, adding megapixels comes with some drawbacks.

For one thing, smaller pixels can mean more noisy speckles at the pixel level and can reduce the dynamic range, so brighter areas wash out and darker areas become swaths of black. For another, images take more room on memory cards, hard drives, and Web servers, and cameras need more powerful image processors to handle them. And yesteryear's cameras already had plenty of pixels for making 8x10-inch prints, a size few people exceed. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Camera cleaning accessory maker LensPen announced a new product to help remove dust, hairs, specks, and other detritus that sticks to digital SLR sensors.

The $59.95 SensorKlear Loupe, announced here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show, is a magnifying glass that attaches to a camera's lens mount. Its four battery-powered LEDs illuminate the sensor, and unlike rival products such as VisibleDust's Sensor Loupe, a gap in the side allows you to clean off the sensor.

Unsurprisingly, the company recommends use of LensPen SensorKlear II to actually clean off the schmutz. The pen and loupe together … Read more