The QHY268 Pro Cooled Color CMOS Camera is ultra high resolution at 26 MP. Its APS-C format sensor is back-illuminated with 16-bit ADC and 3.76 um pixel size.
This camera is still not released, but you may pre-order it. Note that the price is tentative and is subject to change. The specs are also tentative and may vary.
Native 16-bit ADC, 65536 Levels
The QHY268C is the CMOS camera with native 16-bit A/D on-chip. The output is real 16-bits with 65536 levels. To compare with the 12-bit and 14-bit ADC. The 16-bit ADC can get high sample resolution, system gain will be less than 1e/ADU. No sample error noise and low noise.
Full Well: 51ke- at 3.76 um
One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure is improved full well capacity. This is particularly helpful for sensors with small pixels. Even with unbinned 3.76 um pixels the QHY268C has a full well capacity of 50ke-
Ultra Low Read Noise
With a 1 to 4 e read noise, the QHY268C has only one electron of read noise at high gain and 15/fps high readout speed. One electron of read noise means the camera can achieve a SNR>3 at only 4 to 6 photons. This is perfect performance when conditions are photon limited, i.e., short exposures, narrow band imaging, etc., making this large area sensor ideal for sky surveys and time domain astronomy.
Back-Illuminated, Electric Rolling Shutter, and Low Dark Current
This back-illuminated Scientific CMOS camera has extremely low dark current using SONY's Exmor BSI CMOS technology. In general, the fan-blade mechanical shutter will be broken if it is used 200,000 times or so, and in some specific cases it is easy to fail to switch on or off. The advantage of electronic shutter over mechanical shutter is high-reliability and stability when the observatory shoots a large number of pictures. The electronic shutter is a relatively perfect choice for the observatory.
Best Match for a HyperStar System
The round camera case design of QHY268C and the image size is your best match for HyperStar systems.
USB3.0 and 2 x 10 GB Fiber Optic I/O Ports
Using the USB3.0 interface you transfer at 6/fps.
This Pro version also has 2 (A and B) 10 Gigabyte Fiber Optic ports, for rich, external, expandable I/O signals as well as a rich resource that allow the user to customize the FPGA inside the camera.
TEC Cooling
The QHY268C has regulated TEC Cooling with 2-stage TE Cooler.
The differences between the Photographic and Professional versions:
specifications
ADC | 16 bit |
Anti Dew Heater | Yes |
Back Focus | 17.5 mm |
Buffer | 2 GB DDR3 |
Camera Connection | Female M54x.75 |
Color or Mono | Color |
Cooled | Cooled |
Delta T | 35C |
Dynamic Range | 14.1 Stops |
Free Shipping | Yes |
Full Rez Frame Rate | 6.8fps |
Full Well | 51ke |
Max Frame Rate | 50fps |
Mega Pixels | 26.4 MP |
Peak QE | 78% |
Pixel Array | 6280 x 4210 |
Pixel Size | 3.76 microns |
Port | 10 GB Fiber Optic (A) |
Port | 10 GB Fiber Optic (B) |
Port | USB 3.0 |
Read Noise | 3e |
Sensor Diagonal | 28.4 mm |
Sensor Size | C Format |
Sensor Type | CMOS |
Sensor | Sony IMX571 |
Special Feature | 1eNeg/ADU at High Gain |
Special Feature | 75ke at Extend Mode |