Image sensor honed for street viewing

Sony has created an image sensor for automotive cameras that handles flickering LED traffic lights and high contrast ratios.

By Steve Bush , Apr. 12, 2017 – Flicker mitigation is necessary, said the firm, since the LEDs have been adopted for traffic signs, traffic signals, car brake lights and car headlights are frequently pulse-width modulated - which can cross-modulate with the frame rate causing apparent low-speed strobing. To thwart this, Sony has extended the exposure time to cover the >90Hz flicker stipulated in EN12966. For those still perplexed, there is a video.

Designing for high dynamic range (HDR, 120dB in this case) allows a sensor to retain detail simultaneously in the darkest and lightest parts of an image -  is important, for example, as a car enters or leaves a tunnel in daylight. Another video.

"It is the first in the industry that can simultaneously mitigate LED flicker and shoot in HDR, a capability made possible by Sony's original pixel structure and exposure method," said the firm.