QHY 268C 26 MP Professional CMOS APS-C Color Astronomy Camera # QHY268C-PRO
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Product Details
1. Ultra High Resolution: 26 Megapixels, APS-C format
The QHY268C is a 26 Megapixel cooled, back-illuminated, color CMOS camera based on the Sony IMX571 sensor with native 16-bit A/D and 3.76um pixels. The QHY268C is available only in a color model.
2. Native 16-Bit: On-chip 16-bit A/D, 65536 Levels
The Sony IMX571 sensor has on-chip 16-bit A/D for highest resolution of greyscale. The output is real 16-bits with 65536 levels. Compared to 12-bit and 14-bit A/D, 16-bit A/D provides higher sampling resolution. At high gain, the camera yields close to 1e-/ADU with low read noise and no sampling error.
3. High Dynamic Range: 51ke- Full Well at 3.76um, 75ke- in extended mode
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 3.76um pixels the QHY268C has a full well capacity of 51ke-. QHY268C also offers a unique read mode up to 75ke per pixel. When binned 2x2 to 7.5um the full well is 176ke- and when binned 3x3 to 11um the full well is 396ke-.
4. Ultra Low Read Noise: 0.7e- Noise at High gain, 3.5e- Noise at Low Gain
The QHY268C has only 0.7 electron of read noise at its highest gain and 6.8 FPS at full resolution 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
5. Back-Illuminated, High QE: Very Low Dark current, Electronic Shutter, Round Body
The back-illuminated Sony Exmor sensor has about twice the QE of similar front illuminated sensors. The QHY268C has extremely low dark current using SONY's Exmor BSI CMOS technology (only 0.0005e/pixel/sec @ -20C). In addition, the camera uses QHYCCD's proprietary thermal noise reduction technology and 2-stage TE cooling to reduce the dark current noise to extremely low levels.
In general, a fan-blade mechanical shutter may fail after several hundred thousand cycles and is subject to intermittent problems in very cold weather. The advantage of an electronic shutter over a mechanical shutter is high reliability and stability when the observer takes a large number of images.
The round body and sensor size make this camera ideal for Hyperstar and RASA systems. The camera has a USB3.0 interface to the computer.
6. Built-In Buffer for Reliable Data Transfer
2GB Image Buffer: In order to get smooth uninterrupted high speed transfer of data, the QHY 268C has a large 2 GB DDR3 memory buffer.
7. Photographic and Pro Versions Available
The QHY268PH-C (sold separately) has only the USB3.0 port. The QHY268PRO-C (this item) has both USB3.0 and 2X10Gbit fiber ports.
Other Information
- Country of Manufacture: China
- Model:
- QHY268PH-C (PhotoGrapic Version - sold separately)
- QHY268PRO-C (Professional Version - this item)
- Image Sensor: SONY APS-C CMOS Sensor IMX571
- Sensor Type: Back Illuminated (BSI)
- Pixel Size: 3.76um x 3.76um
- Color / Mono Version: Only Color Version Avaliable
- Sensor Surface Glass: Multi Layer AR coating
- Effective Pixels
- 26 Megapixels
- Effective Image Area: 6280x4210 (includes the optically black area and overscan area)
- Full Well Capacity: 51ke- (More than 75ke- in extended full well mode)
- A/D: Native 16-bit (0-65535 greyscale) A/D
- Sensor Size: APS-C format, 23.5mm x 15.7mm (28.3mm Diagonal)
- Full Frame Rate:
- USB3.0 Port:
- Full Resolution 6.8FPS @8BIT 6FPS @16BIT
- 2048 lines 13.6FPS @8BIT 11.5FPS@16BIT
- 1080 lines 25.4FPS @8BIT 19.5FPS@16BIT
- 768 lines 35FPS @8BIT 25FPS@16BIT
- 480 lines 50FPS @8BIT 34FPS@16BIT
- Read Noise:
- 0.7e- High Gain, 3.5e- Low Gain
- (2.7e- to 5.5e- in extended full well mode)
- Dark Current:
- 0.0005e/pixel/sec @ -20C
- 0.001e/pixel/sec @ -10C
- Exposure Time Range: 30us - 3600sec
- Firmware/FPGA remotely upgradeable: Yes, via Camera USB port
- Non-volatile memory / On camera storage:
- Build-in total 64MByte Flash Memory. 10MBytes user-accessible space for stellar ROI frames for analysis for exoplanet investigation, occultations, atmospheric seeing measurements, focus, optical analysis, etc. Supports 100*100 image x 500 frames; 50*50 image x 4000frames; 25*25 image x 16000 frames; 10*10 image x 250000 frames.
- Shutter Type: Electronic Rolling Shutter
- Computer Interface: USB 3.0
- Built-in Image Buffer: 1GByte/2GByte DDR3 Memory
- Cooling System: Dual Stage TEC cooler（-35C below ambient）
- Anti-Dew Heater: Yes
- Telescope Interface: M54x0.75
- Optic Window Type: AR+AR High Quality Multi-Layer Anti-Reflection Coating
- Back Focal Length: 17.5mm（±0.3）
- Weigth: 1006g
