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Chemical Iris for CCD Cameras

posted by LaminatorX on Friday June 27 2014, @02:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the Atelier dept.
Hardware

cafebabe writes:

A new micro-iris features 55µm thick transparent chemical rings of electrochromic polymer PEDOT (poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) which turn opaque when 1.5V is applied. The obvious application is in front of CCD cameras in phones but it has other applications.

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  • (Score: 2) by randmcnatt on Friday June 27 2014, @02:55PM

    by randmcnatt (671) on Friday June 27 2014, @02:55PM (#60886)
    The switching time from transparent to opaque (well, 40% opaque, anyway) is around 15 seconds and 2 seconds back to transparent. That's a long time in a camera. My cell phone already has more lag than is convenient. "Sweetheart, hold still while I [push button] take this picture........[click]. It might be better in surveillance cameras and the like, something that usually doesn't need to react quickly.
    --
    The Wright brothers were not the first to fly: they were the first to land.

    • (Score: 2) by skullz on Friday June 27 2014, @08:22PM

      by skullz (2532) on Friday June 27 2014, @08:22PM (#61063)

      But if you are using this to adjust the f-stop I would take a 15 second delay to set everything up and then snap quickly. It's not going to change between shots.

  • (Score: 2) by WizardFusion on Friday June 27 2014, @03:22PM

    by WizardFusion (498) on Friday June 27 2014, @03:22PM (#60896) Journal

    Why are they using this specific chemical.?
    I would have thought something like a LCD would be much quicker, or even those transparent doors/windows that turn opaque when power is applied/removed.
    They have very quick switching times.

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by kaganar on Friday June 27 2014, @03:53PM

      by kaganar (605) on Friday June 27 2014, @03:53PM (#60913)

      I was wondering that, too, so I RTFA (not my usual M.O. either) and found:

      ... does not require a continuous current to maintain its state ...

      That's the cool part about it. It makes me wonder if a hybrid LCD-chemical aperture system might be released first since the chemical version turns transparent faster than it turns opaque. For example, to quickly narrow the aperture the LCD would restrict. To widen the aperture, both would grow larger which is lightining-fast in the LCD case and acceptably fast in the chemical aperture case. (Mind you, this wouldn't work now, but as they improve the speed this may be the first viable implementation.)

      This makes me think of e-Ink, only transparent. However, if you're wondering why e-Ink won't work: e-Ink contains many capsules with both white and black pigments which can never actually turn transparent without significant technology changes if possible at all. (See Wikipedia [wikipedia.org].)

    • (Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Friday June 27 2014, @04:37PM

      by SpockLogic (2762) on Friday June 27 2014, @04:37PM (#60929)

      From TFA ...

      "However, the synthesis of optimised EC (electrochomatic) materials is under rapid development."

      It will get faster. Its just a matter of time.

      --
      Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII