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FAQ about sCMOS scientific cameras


FAQ for Large sensor / pixel camera - MX377 model

1. What gain modes are available?

There is 12 bit and 14 bit in the CMS mode, more details HERE

2. What frame rate can be achieved?

For 12bit around 48 Fps
For 14-bit (effectively 16bit) it is from 2 to 24 Fps depending on the gain Mode

3. What are full well capacity (FWC) values?

For 14 bit it should be around 120 000 e-
For other modes check HERE

4. How does the camera reach such speed?

This model utilizes PCIe interface (X4 Gen3) allowing a bandwidth of 32 Gb/s

5. What is the expected readout noise?

For the 12bit modes it is around 4e-
For 14 bit mode with CMS (16bit) measurements are near 3e-

6. Will Global Reset be available?

Yes
The sensor uses Rolling shutter technology to increase sensitivity and S/N ratio.
For Global shutter sCMOS sensors please check HERE

7. Will the camera provide time stamping?

There is a timestamp feature in the camera - resolution 4μs

8. What are the environmental and Cooling parameters?

Environment table

Description Value Units
Maximum housing temperature while operation 50 °C
Minimum housing temperature while operation 5 degrees above dew point °C
Ambient temperature for storage and transportation -30 to +60 °C
Relative Humidity ≤ 80 *%*


With the built in Thermoelectric Peltier enhanced by the fan (Air) cooling the temperature could reach around -10°C
When using the optional Water (Liquid) cooling module the temperature could go down to -30°C

9. Will the camera have a window in front of the chip?

Absolutely, cooling requires this
If the "sensor glass" is meant - the sensor will be available in the "Taped Glass" version so it will be removable if necessary

10. What about Binning and Windowing, ROI?

The sensor does not support Binning, but it is implemented on the camera side - Binning 4x4
Windowing or ROI (Region of interest) is supported and integrated

11. Can the chip be tip/tilt aligned to the optical axis?

No

12. What versions of the Gpixel sensor will be offered?

XIMEA is planning to offer the GSENSE6060 sensors with regards to the sensor grade provided by Gpixel
There will be three grades 0, 1 and 2 (or E for “engineering sample”) which differ in the amount of defects allowed. More details HERE
Typically grade 0 will be omitted as the chances of producing such a sensor are low which results in highly uncertain lead times
Also, there are front-side and back-side illuminated options available


FAQ for Cooled cameras with sCMOS including BSI

1. Can the mount part of the camera be removed?

Yes, there are two options of mounts for this cameras (M42 and C-mount) and both can be removed, allowing closer access to the sensor
Please be careful when attempting this operation because there is a rubber ring around the mount which can potentially help fine tune the lens connection and this part is easily damaged or lost

2. Can the fan part of the Cooling be removed?

Yes, but besides voiding the warranty, this will automatically turn off the cooling completely including the temperature sensor in the camera so even the Peltier will stop working
Thus, the picture quality can get considerably reduced

3. What materials are used in the camera housing?

The material of the camera window is stainless steel 303 (1.4305), which helps with the sealing
The middle part is made of copper alloy that improves the cooling effect and the fan is from aluminum alloy

4. How is the camera powered?

The power is provided to the camera through USB Type-C cable, but to power the Cooling system all parts of the setup (camera, cable, computer and other potential accessories) should support a so called USB PD (Power Delivery) specification

5. How is the ADC for bit readout set up?

You can read more about CMS, HDR and STD modes HERE

6. What are the differences between CMOS vs sCMOS?

You can read more about CMOS, CCD or sCMOS (including backside illumination): HERE

7. What is the glass window material and thickness?

The window material is Sapphire glass with Ar/Ar@VIS coating
Dimensions of the glass are:
  • Diameter 35mm
  • Thickness 1mm +/-0.5mm

8. What is the sensor glass material and thickness?

It is 1mm thick D263T glass without AR coating

9. How does the HDR mode work ?

In the case of HDR mode, two 12bit ADC samples are gathered from each pixel through two readout channels called Low gain and High gain.
These readout channels use different floating diffusions (with different capacities) and apply different analog gains to the signal resulting in different conversion gains (e-/LSB12), sampling noise and sampling range.
The High gain channel ensures that at very low levels of saturation (when the signal and the image noise are low) the readout process does not add a lot of extra noise to the statistical uncertainty.
At higher levels of saturation, when the High gain channel is saturated, the Low gain channel with the higher measurement range is used.
The Low gain channel readout circuit also has a higher readout noise than the High gain channel, but it still is sufficiently low when compared to the image noise at higher signal levels and therefore does not influence much the measurement uncertainty which is dominated by the image noise.
The actual merging algorithm of Low and High gains is described in the HDR mode section of the ADC readout explained

10. What does the 2x 12 bit definition mean ?

The models from xiJ camera family are based on scientific CMOS (sCMOS) sensors.
Such cameras use two images with High and Low gain to produce the final image.
That is why it’s specified with 2x 12 bit.
The resulting image will have a combined 16 bits.

By default, the cameras are set to High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode.
In this mode, the value for each pixel is calculated on the camera's FPGA.
Through merging of the data from the high and low gain channels of the sensor.
Here is the formula for the merging part:


FAQ for MJ042MR-GP-P11 camera and its BSI version

1. Which sensor Grade is used in the camera?

This is not strictly defined yet
Most likely Grade 2 sensors will be used by default, with an option to upgrade to Grade 1 (the highest) if needed

2. What is the Environmental Chamber filled with?

It is Gas filled, typically Xenon

3. How powerful is the Sensor cooling?

The maximum difference between sensor temperature and ambient temperature is -30°C sensor temperature, at +20°C ambient

4. What is the temperature set-point accuracy?

When the temperature is stabilized, the fluctuation is 0.005°C (stdev)
The granularity of the temperature setting is 0.1°C, e.g. -15.5°C

5. Exposure time range

From 20μs to 2147483000μs

6. Binning and ROI

Binning: Up to 2x vertical and 16x horizontal
ROI, sub-array size is supported. Minimum 8x32 [WxH] with 8 pixel increments