Canon Inc President Tsuneji Uchida speaks next to the latest Canon
Canon Inc President Tsuneji Uchida speaks next to the latest Canon 5D Mark II at the company's headquarters in Tokyo November 21, 2008. The global digital camera market may contract next year, the president of industry leader Canon Inc warned, as sluggish economic conditions dampen consumer demand. Picture taken November 21, 2008. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao (JAPAN) Reuters

Canon has developed a 250-megapixel CMOS camera sensor considered the highest resolution CMOS yet made.

Canon’s new APS-H 250MP sensor can distinguish lettering on the side of an airplane flying 18 kilometers from it.

Footage captured by a camera fitted with the sensor achieves a resolution around 125 times that of Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) video and about 30 times that of 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels) video.

Canon’s 250MP APS-H sensor keeps sensitivity and noise generation under control. It ensures an ultra high-speed signal readout speed of 1.25 billion pixels per second made possible by circuit miniaturization and enhanced high-speed signal processing. Canon also assures a video frame rate of 5 frames per second with the 250MP sensor.

An APS-H sensor is a little bigger than the APS-C sensor found in many consumer DSLRs though smaller than the 35mm that is used in professional cameras such as the Canon 5D Mk III and Nikon D4S.

Canon said this kind of sensor can be used in specialized surveillance and crime prevention tools; ultra-high resolution measuring instruments and other industrial equipment. No 250MP digital DSLRs are expected on retail shelves any time soon, however.

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