Canon C300 Mark II White Paper Talks About New Super 35mm Sensor

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Canon publishes a white paper on its recently announced C300 Mark II 4K Digital Cinema camera and a new Super 35mm sensor in its heart:

"Canon R&D never stops and a totally new generation CMOS Super 35mm image sensor is the heart of the stunning imagery of the C300 Mark II. Further innovations within the second generation proprietary photodiode design in combination with on-chip noise cancellation technology have simultaneously lowered the noise floor and elevated the saturation level of the charge well. In addition, a totally new microlens design heightens the efficiency of light direction onto the individual photodiodes – a combination that achieves a more than two-fold increase in effective sensor dynamic range. This provides a definitive 15-Stop dynamic range capability in this new cinematography camera.

The more controlled noise floor allows the ISO range to be extended up to ISO 102,400. The Luma signal to noise ratio is a superb 67dB over a range of ISO settings. In the original C300 image sensor there were two fast readout modes – one, at 1/60 sec progressive and another at 1/120 sec interlace. The new image sensor in the C300 Mark II has a single readout capability of up to 1/120 sec progressive – further reducing rolling shutter skew effects."


"The C300 Mark II has a significant extension of dynamic range to 15-Stops – offering impressive HDR imaging capabilities – and the linear light digital representation for each of the 2K / HD video components is at a high 14-bit depth. This, in turn, allows for a far more favorable disposition of digital codes when mapping the nonlinear Opto Electronic Transfer Function (OETF) – a logarithmic curve termed Canon Log2.

An important extension was made to the Canon Log2 curve above the peak white level (the maximum level that can be delivered by the image sensor) – this being a 2-Stop continuation of the transfer function that is intended to support possible “push-pull” image manipulation in the color grading process."

11:51 AM

The Face of a Spider

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Image Credit: http://www.tarantulaspider.net

The Face of a Spider by David Quammen is a story about one day when the author returns home to find his living room filled with black widow spiders - baby ones. Spawned by a single female that Quammen had been avoiding dealing with, the article is about his minor moral crisis, and the major question: How should humans act towards members of the other species? His solution is eye contact.

I participated in the discussion around the question "What is importance if eye contact with other species, according to Quammen?" Before the discussion, I thought that Quammen says it is important to make eye contact because by doing so, we are respecting the other creature as we might another human, and respecting that they may have emotions too. After the discussion, I thought mostly the same thing, but now I thought Quammen emphasized more the emotional aspect over the respect aspect.
 The part of the text that led me to thinking was, "Look for signs of embarrassment, rancor, or guilt. Repeat the following formula like a mantra 'This is some mother's darling, this is some mother's child."

When I was listening to the discussion around the question "How should humans behave toward members of the other living species?" I was intrigued when someone expressed the view that humans should seriously empathize with other species, think of them like human beings, and then still kill them. If I could have added a comment to the discussion, I would have replied to a question posed: "In the end, why does the spider hide it's face in 'distrust'?" and said that, in my opinion, Quammen was over-personifying - that it was highly unlikely that a random arachnid should feel distrust at a face that is just one of many goggling through the glass throughout the day.

I think, when a person has to make the decision to kill or not to kill, it definitely makes them a better person, or at least more comfortable as themselves with their views, because it forces them to reflect on themselves. What do they care about more? What, to them, is right or wrong?" At the end of such a reflection, after having make a decision, I feel like a person would feel more comfortable with their views.

Humans, as a species, have made a pretty indecisive choice in this decision. We go all out trying to protect some species, such as polar bears and spotted animals, but practically ignore many others. Why? Well, we can't practically go to either extreme - saving all endangered species or saving none - so we make choices. People are more willing to fund protection for animals that they know about, like a bear or an owl, and an animal that appeals to them, whether it's considered 'cute,' 'cool,' or 'beautiful.' 

There have been groups of people who've gone an extreme, like the Jainist religion of India, whose central belief is ahimsa, do no harm. Rigorously devout Jains would do things like refrain from cutting their hair, to avoid hurting lice, and cover their mouth with a cloth, to avoid inhaling gnats. Personally, I think it is a nice idea - sharing the earth without harming other life - but just, in the end, wishful thinking. To exert that much energy against such a natural, relentless instinct, to kill, if necessary, to survive - I just don't think that works,

Digitimes Research: Sony to Shift Focus to Mid-Range and Entry-Level

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Digitimes: Sony is to ramp up its image sensor production capacity by 31% in 2016, and plans focusing on mid-range and entry-level phone models, according to Digitimes Research. Sony also plans to triple its lens module shipments during the period from 2014-2017, Digitimes Research says.

Samsung Electronics has not used in-house developed image sensor products on its flagship models for over one-and-a-half years, not even in the recently released Galaxy Note 5, which comes with a Sony IMX240 sensor.

Samsung's adoption of Sony's CIS sensors may affect confidence of other first-tier smartphone brands in Samsung's image sensor products, which in return is likely to force the Korea company's CIS business unit to cooperate with second-tier handset brands. This is said to have an unfavorable impact on other image sensor makers, including Ominivision, ON Semi and those in Taiwan.
12:19 PM

SK Hynix Invests in Stratio

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Korea Times: SK Hynix has invested 2.2 billion won (~ $1.86M) in Stratio, a Silicon Valley startup, in what officials say is a part of a corporate strategy to increase its stake in the rising image sensor segment. For that amount, SK Hynix got a 9.1% stake in Stratio. Other Stratio investors include K Cube Ventures (Tech for Korea), a venture company that funds and supports startups and young entrepreneurs in Korea, that invested $1M in October 2014.

Stratio develops Ge-on-Si based SWIR image sensors, said to be cheaper than their predecessors. The company has been established in 2013 and led by Lee Jae-hyung, who worked at Boston Consulting Group and Samsung Electronics. Stratio Photonics West 2015 presentation sheds some light on its technology and value proposition:


Semicon West startup introduction page states: "Stratio, Inc. was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Electrical Engineering PhDs. Stratio’s core technology is low-cost germanium (Ge) based short wavelength infrared (SWIR) image sensors suitable for incorporation with mobile devices. Stratio’s sensor utilizes a proprietary hybrid process that combines selective Ge epitaxial growth with established Si CMOS technology to overcome the limitations of conventional InGaAs-based SWIR sensors. Stratio's unique manufacturing process has a high thermal budget and results in a two chip package (sensor and ROIC) that allows for greater manufacturing flexibility than traditional monolithic sensor solutions. In addition, Stratio is developing a low-cost, portable hyperspectral imaging system for use with our sensor."


Stratio's Youtube video from May 2014 shows its SWIR camera attachment for iPhone:


11:29 AM

IDF 2015 News: Skylake ISP, RealSense

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Intel Developers Forum 2015 has a number of interesting imaging announcements.

Liliputing reports that some chips in the new 7th generation 14nm Skylake CPU platform features an integrated ISP:


From TechPowerUp: Graphics and ISP capabilities cost a lot in terms of Skylake area:


Engadget, Venturebeat: Another news is that Intel RealSense 3D camera is now being used in Google Project Tango, and supposed to appear in mobile phones:

Google Tango phone with RealSense camera
9:57 PM

Disappearance Of Thick Arctic Sea Ice

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[ view full image at facebook ]


Arctic sea ice is in a horrible state. On August 16, 2015, Arctic sea ice extent was 5.786 million square km, the smallest extent on record for this time of year except for the years 2007, 2011 and 2012, as illustrated by the image on the right.

The situation today is even worse than one might conclude when looking at sea ice extent alone. Thick sea ice is virtually absent compared to the situation in the year 2012 around this time of year, as illustrated by the image below comparing sea ice thickness on August 16, 2012 (left) with August 16, 2015 (right).


The ice used to be over 4 m thick, or over 13 ft thick, north of Greenland and the Canadian Archipelago. This thick multi-year ice has been a feature of the Arctic sea ice for over 100,000 years. It used to be there all year long, unlike the thinner ice that could melt away entirely during the melting season.

The disappearance of this thick multi-year ice is a major development. Why? Until now, the thicker multi-year sea ice used to survive the melting season, giving the sea ice strength for the next year, by acting as a buffer to absorb heat that would otherwise melt away the thinner ice. Without multi-year sea ice, the Arctic will be in a bad shape in coming years, and huge amounts of heat that would otherwise go into melting the ice will instead be warming up the Arctic Ocean, further accelerating warming of its waters.

Absence of thick sea ice makes it more prone to collapse, and this raises the question whether the sea ice could collapse soon, even this year. Sea ice works like a mirror. Without sea ice, sunlight that was previously reflected back into space, will instead be absorbed by the Arctic. Albedo changes in the Arctic alone could more than double the net radiative forcing resulting from the emissions caused by all people of the world, as calculated by Prof. Peter Wadhams back in 2012.

Furthermore, there is a danger that loss of the sea ice will weaken the currents that currently cool the bottom of the sea, where huge amounts of methane may be present in the form of free gas or hydrates in sediments. This danger is illustrated by the image below by Reg Morrison, from an earlier post.


Absence of sea ice also goes hand in hand with opportunities for storms to develop over the Arctic Ocean. Such storms could push the remaining sea ice out of the Arctic Ocean. Such storms could also mix surface heat all the way down to the seafloor, where methane could be contained in sediments.

As described in an earlier post, sea surface anomalies of over 5 degrees Celsius were recorded in August 2007 (NOAA image right). Strong polynya activity caused more summertime open water in the Laptev Sea, in turn causing more vertical mixing of the water column during storms in late 2007, as described in this study, and bottom water temperatures on the mid-shelf increased by more than 3 degrees Celsius compared to the long-term mean.

Indeed, the danger is that heat will warm up sediments under the sea, containing methane in hydrates and as free gas, causing large amounts of this methane to escape rather abruptly into the atmosphere.

The image on the right, from a study by Hovland et al., shows that hydrates can exist at the end of conduits in the sediment, formed when methane did escape from such hydrates in the past.

Heat can travel down such conduits relatively fast, warming up the hydrates and destabilizing them in the process, which can result in huge abrupt releases of methane.

Since waters can be very shallow in the Arctic, much of the methane can then rise up through these waters without getting oxidized. As the methane causes further warming in the atmosphere, this will contribute to the danger of even further methane escaping, further accelerating local warming, in a vicious cycle that can lead to catastrophic conditions well beyond the Arctic. For additional feedbacks in the Arctic, see the feedbacks page. 

At the same time, ocean heat is at a record high and there's an El Niño that's still gaining strength. This ocean heat is likely to reach the Arctic Ocean in full strength by October 2015, at a time when sea ice may still be at its minimum. The image below shows sea surface temperatures on August 16, 2015 (left) and anomalies (right).


How warm is the water entering the Arctic Ocean? Merely looking at sea surface temperatures could make one overlook the full extent of the predicament we are in. Ocean heat traveling underneath the sea surface can be even warmer than temperatures showing up at the surface. This is illustrated by the image below indicating that on August 16, 2015, warm water emerged at the sea surface near Svalbard with temperatures as high as 14.9°C or 58.7°F, a 9.5°C or 17.1°F anomaly.


There still is about a month to go before sea ice can be expected to reach its minimum, at around half September 2015, while sea currents will continue to carry warmer water into the Arctic Ocean for months to come.

The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action, as discussed in the Climate Plan. 


Thick sea ice is virtually absent compared to the situation in the year 2012 around this time of year, as illustrated by...
Posted by Sam Carana on Tuesday, August 18, 2015

ON Semi Plans Comeback to Smartphone Cameras

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SeekingAlpha's ON Semiconductors Q2 2015 earnings call transcript has few interesting statements about the company's planned comeback to the camera phone market.

Ian Ing - MKM Partners:
"Image sensors you talked about strengthened surveillance in automotive, but where are you in terms of turning more selective in the commodity types of market like handsets and consumer is that something that’s still has to play out?"

Keith D. Jackson, CEO:
"Actually we’re there, we’re participating the majority of everything in the handset piece which is the most commoditized is at the 13 megapixel rates, where we can still get some differentiation and in the more consumer pieces that you might see in the homes also again we’ve got instead of higher resolution products there and the lower resolution products are tailing off."

Few other interesting quotes:

"Revenue for our Image Sensor Group was approximately $173 million as compared to approximately $171 million for the first quarter. Aptina was nicely accretive to our non-GAAP EPS and we remain on track to generate $0.08 of non-GAAP EPS accretion from Aptina in the current year."

"We continue to gain increasing traction with our image sensors in the automotive market. If you are seeing double-digit growth in attach rates for A-dash for model year 2016 vehicles. Our design win momentum continues to accelerate and we’ve secured additional design wins for A-dash and rear view cameras with leading OEMs in Americas, Europe and South Korea. We’re seeing higher than expected attach rate for our rear view cameras driven by consumer demand ahead of government regulations and mandates."

"We are seeing strong traction for our fast focused high resolution image sensors in the sports action camera market. Adoption of our three megapixel and two megapixel image sensors for digital video recorders for cars in China is accelerating."

"Robust growth in the security market again generated strong demand for our image sensing solutions during the quarter. As expected, we saw strong volumes in China as the country began to implement a large scale transition to 1080p security cameras which will utilize our two megapixel, 1/3-Inch and three megapixel 1/3-Inch sensors. We continue to see good penetration globally in the top-tier machine vision camera manufacturers for the Python VGA CMOS image sensor devices, which reported a 23% sales increase compared to the first quarter.

In the medical market, we had a record quarter with strong growth from our imaging and hearing aid customers."
10:14 PM

Face Recognition Counter-Measures

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Popular Science, WSJ: Japanese National Institute of Informatics announces eyeglasses that help users protect their privacy by disabling facial-recognition systems in cameras.

The glasses appear to be a completely passive device, and said to rely on "unique angles and patterns on its lens that reflect or absorb light. This prevents the recognition systems in digital cameras and smartphones from spotting a human face in a shot and focusing on it."

“The Privacy Visor is the world’s first product with this technology,” the institute’s Professor Isao Echizen said. “We are often told not to unveil our personal information to others, but our faces are also a type of an ID. There should be a way to protect that.” Tests with cameras on smartphones showed that the eyeglasses were able to trick the facial-recognition system 90% of the time.


Thanks to DK for the link!
1:12 PM

Tianjin Tragedy: A Painful Lesson

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Last Wednesday, Aug. 12, people living near the coast of Bohai Bay, in the southeast part of the port city of Tianjin, were awaked by the sound of sirens and the flickering of a fire.  A chemical warehouse on the bay was ablaze, and several residents got out their smartphones and videoed the impressive conflagration as it illuminated nearby apartment and office buildings.  At 11:30 PM, eyewitnesses saw a blinding flash as a huge detonation went off, followed a few seconds later by an even bigger one that registered 2.3 on the Richter scale of seismographs many miles away.  Acres of new cars awaiting shipments were incinerated, huge shipping containers were tossed around like matchsticks, and
as of this writing (Sunday Aug. 16), the confirmed death toll from the explosions has reached 112, with 90 more reported missing.  Hundreds have been injured, many seriously, and evacuations and property damage have rendered several thousand residents temporarily homeless.  Sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical, has been detected in the port's sewer system and the sewage outflow leading to Bohai Bay has been cut off. 

At this point, there are more questions than answers, as reporters who attended a news conference called after the tragedy learned before officials abruptly ended the conference.  Why was such a dangerous collection of chemicals stored within 2,000 feet of a residential area?  What was in the warehouse that exploded?  And last but not least, how can such a tragedy be prevented from happening again?

A chemical fire is one of the firefighter's worst nightmares, even when the nature of the chemicals is known.  The warehouse that exploded was owned by the Rui Hai International Logistics Company, which was unable to provide officials with a complete inventory of what was in the building when it caught fire.  Records indicated that the firm had a license to store calcium carbide, which produces highly flammable acetylene gas when it gets wet.  And sodium cyanide is not something you want to spread around either—an amount the size of a single small pill can kill you.  If there is enough left of the warehouse and its records to investigate, we will probably find out that there was a lot of something—ammonium nitrate, perhaps—stored in one big pile that went off all at once.  Sadly, many of the fatalities were in the ranks of the first responders who approached the warehouse with fire hoses after the first alarm was turned in.  Some of their bodies may never be recovered.

Years ago, in the late 1980s, I visited Tianjin during a trip related to my research activities.  My first impression of the city came as we emerged from an underground railway station into a square which was dominated by a strange assortment of suspended wires that I recognized immediately as a shortwave transmitting antenna.  This was back when shortwave radio was one of the main ways that people in totalitarian countries could get news that wasn't controlled by the government.  Accordingly, the government erected local shortwave jamming stations that tried to cover up Voice of America broadcasts with racket that sounded like a battle between two buzz saws.  Control of outside information is a lot harder nowadays because of the Internet, and the government of China has quit trying to suppress undesirable information completely, as the aborted news conference proves.  But just knowing how awful an accident is doesn't guarantee that something will be done about it.  Can we expect this horrific disaster to lead to any improvements in safety?  That depends.

One thing that is clear beyond a doubt:  people all over China and the rest of the world know how bad this explosion was.  And at a minimum, the residents of Tianjin are going to demand changes in the way the port operates and keeps track of hazardous materials.  Sometimes local politics in China is a lot more quasi-democratic than you would expect from a nominally totalitarian government system, in that incompetent heads roll and genuine reforms can take place if public pressure is great enough. 

The larger question is whether the Tianjin explosion will create a drive toward safer operation of industrial facilities in general across China.  The pollution problems in Chinese cities are notorious, with one expert estimating that 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China.  Lacking a formal means of influencing their government through meaningful elections, the Chinese people have taken to mounting lots of protests, and one Chinese Communist Party official estimated that in 2012 alone, about 50,000 environmental protests took place.  This is evidence of a great deal of frustration on the part of the country's citizens, who have enjoyed tremendous economic growth in the past few decades, but have paid the price by living in overcrowded, polluted, and increasingly dangerous cities.

There isn't much that is nice about a totalitarian government, but you can say this—once the people in power make up their minds to do something, they can go ahead and do it without a lot of compromises and political bargaining.  If Beijing wants to enact much stricter regulations about the types of chemicals stored in port warehouses such as Rui Hai's, they can do so tomorrow.  But regulations alone aren't enough.

Tragedies similar to the Tianjin explosions here in the U. S., such as the fertilizer-plant explosion in West, Texas in April of 2013, have emphasized how important it is for accurate inventory information to be available at all times to first responders, who in turn need to be educated about the various dangers and appropriate techniques that should be applied in case of a chemical fire.  Ideally, the Rui Hai warehouse would have been constructed and equipped with sprinkler and alarm systems so that it wouldn't have caught fire in the first place, or at least the fire could have been extinguished before it got out of control.  But despite the best precautions, chemical fires sometimes get out of hand.  In that case, fire departments need to know when to try to fight a fire, what to fight it with, and when to look at the online inventory and decide, "Let's issue an evacuation order and clear out ourselves too—this is too dangerous."  But there has to be an accurate online inventory and first responders who are trained to know what to do and when to do it.

These things are not rocket science, but they represent a change in the way people do things.  Let's hope that not only in Tianjin, but all across China, the sad lessons of last week's explosions lead to safer ports and better information exchange in the future. 

Sources:  I referred to news reports on the disaster carried by CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/15/asia/china-tianjin-explosions/, the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/15/world/asia/rising-anger-but-few-answers-after-explosions-in-tianjin.html, NBC News at http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tianjin-china-explosion-area-evacuated-over-sodium-cyanide-fears-n410371, and the Wikipedia articles on "Tianjin explosions" and "Environmental issues in China."

Arctic Sea Ice Collapse Threatens - Update 5

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The image below shows sea surface temperatures in the Arctic as at August 15, 2015.



Below a time lapse video, covering the period from May 30 to August 15, 2015, created by Cameron Forge with daily images from NPEO Webcam 1 from the North Pole Environmental Observatory, National Science Foundation. For a drift map of the buoys, also see this page.



Below is an August 14, 2015, satellite image from Arctic.io showing that there is very little sea ice to the north east of Greenland and what is there looks to be very thin as well.


The image below shows Arctic sea ice extent, with the blue dot indicating the extent for August 14, 2015.




More will follow soon.



Sea surface temperatures in the Arctic as at August 15, 2015.http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/arctic-sea-ice-collapse-threatens-update-5.html
Posted by Sam Carana on Sunday, August 16, 2015

How to Measure Anti-Blooming Efficiency

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Albert Theuwissen publishes a first blog post in series of anti-blooming efficiency measurements. The first post talks about how NOT to measure anti-blooming.
9:33 PM

Pixart Reports Q2 2015 Results

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Pixart reports its Q2 2015 results:

"The revenue in 2015Q2 decreased by 0.6% QoQ to NT$1,084.6 million. Compared with previous quarter, 2015Q2 gross margin was slightly improved to 49.0%. The operating expenses decreased by 0.8% QoQ to NT$466.3 million. Due to favorable product mix change and the decrease in operating expenses, 2015Q2 operating margin was improved to 6.0% from 5.3% in previous quarter. The net income and the basic earnings per share for 2015Q2 were NT$59.5 million and NT$0.51 respectively."

The company's investor presentation updates on the product mix:

9:25 PM

Yole on Sony Domination

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Yole Developpement publishes an article "Image sensor “Battle of the Giants”: Sony invests $4B. What does it means for the CIS industry?" by Pierre Cambou. The main point of the article is:

"Yole forecasts that the CIS industry will reach $10B this year, with Sony remaining the undisputed world leader --mainly at image sensor level, but gaining strong momentum at camera module level too. And what will Sony’s $4B be used for? Probably to increase capacity, enhance R&D efforts, and further widen the gap between its competitors. It may also be used in applications that will generate a firm lead in automotive, and to develop sensing technologies for consumer and automotive applications. With this bold financing move, Sony is leveraging its leading technology position and demonstrating the confidence it has in its products, its technology, and its future.

Sony is increasing in strength, and there’s little the competition can do to counter its growth."

12:35 AM

Eye on Automotive Sensors

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Andrew Burt, Toshiba America's VP of Image Sensor Business Unit, continues his "Eye on Sensors" blog with a second post on automotive image sensors. The post primarily talks about TU-Automotive Conference held in Detroit in June.
12:31 AM

BASF Spins Off its 3D Sensor Project into a Separate Company

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BASF spins off its chemical 3D sensor project into a separate company named trinamiX. The new company has its web site under construction and only says "trinamiX is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and a newly founded 100% subisidiary of BASF SE, the leading chemical company. As a pioneer, we are developing the most versatile sensor system in adaptive 3D measurement technology: XperYenZ."

The company registration documents state that the purpose of the company is, in Google translation, "The development and marketing of sensor technology based on organic photosensitive dyes and the production and sales of optical sensors based on this technology."

trinamiX trademark registration says that it's intended for "Photographic, cinematographic and optical apparatuses and instruments; apparatus for recording, transmission or reproduction of images."

The one and only picture on trinamiX web site suggests the 3D photography intentions of the new company:

8:39 AM

Arctic Sea Ice Collapse Threatens - Update 4

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On August 12, 2015, Arctic sea ice extent was 6.043 million square km. For this date, the only years on record that sea ice extent was smaller were 2007, 2011 and 2012, as illustrated by above image.

Similarly, on August 11, 2015, Arctic sea ice area on August 11, 2015, was 3.67025 million square km (bottom end yellow line). For this date, the only years on record that sea ice area was smaller were 2007, 2011 and 2012.

So, will Arctic sea ice reach a record low this year? The situation is actually a lot worse than it appears when just looking at sea ice extent and area up until now. 

In fact, sea ice is in a horrible state. One indication of this is the almost complete absence of thick sea ice on August 12, 2015, which becomes even more clear when compared with the situation in 2012 for the same date, as illustrated by the image below. 

The absence of thick sea ice means that, in terms of volume, there is very little sea ice left to melt until the minimum volume will be reached around half September. In other words, the remaining sea ice could melt rather quickly. 


Also note the presence of water on the image below, from Web Cam 1, from the North Pole Environmental Observatory, National Science Foundation. For a drift map of the buoys, also see this page.


The image below shows sea surface temperature anomalies in the Arctic on August 13, 2015.


As discussed earlier, Greenland's dramatic losses of ice mass over the past few years and the subsequent large volumes of meltwater have affected sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic and have caused the sea ice to be larger than it would otherwise have been in terms of extent and area.

Nonetheless, this has not halted the overall rise of ocean heat and the subsequent decline of Arctic sea ice, as illustrated by the discussion further above on sea ice thickness. Thick sea ice is shattered if not absent altogether in many places. 

Until now, the thicker multi-year sea ice used to survive the melting season, giving the sea ice strength for the next year, by acting as a buffer to absorb heat that would otherwise melt away the thinner ice. Without multi-year sea ice, the Arctic will be in a bad shape in coming years. Absence of thick sea ice makes it more prone to collapse, and this raises the question whether a collapse could occur not merely some years from now, but even this year.

Meanwhile, ocean heat is at a record high and there's an El Nino that's still gaining strength. The image below illustrates that a huge amount of ocean heat has been piling up in the Atlantic Ocean, ready to be carried into the Arctic Ocean, while large amounts of heat are also entering the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean through  the Bering Strait.

Sea surface temperatures around North America - note that the top end of the scale is 35°C or 95°F 

This ocean heat is likely to reach the Arctic Ocean in full strength by October 2015, at a time when sea ice may still be at its minimum. Absence of sea ice goes hand in hand with opportunities for storms to develop over the Arctic Ocean, which could mix surface heat all the way down to the seafloor, where methane could be contained in sediments. 

The methane situation is already very dangerous, given mean methane levels that recently reached levels as high as 1840 ppb, while much higher peak levels can occur locally, as illustrated by the image below. 
Methane levels appear to be rising by over 10 parts per billion a year at Barrow, Alaska. Worryingly, high peaks have been showing up there recently.

In conclusion, Arctic sea ice looks set to take a further battering over the next few weeks and could end up at a record low around half September 2015. If things get really bad, sea ice collapse could occur and the remaining pieces of sea ice could be driven out of the Arctic Ocean altogether by storms, resulting in a blue ocean event as early as September this year.

The situation is dire and calls for comprehensive and effective action, as discussed at the Climate Plan.



On August 11, 2015, Arctic sea ice area on August 11, 2015, was 3.67025 million square km (bottom end yellow line). For...
Posted by Sam Carana on Friday, August 14, 2015

Etron to Spin-Off its Stereo Depth Map Controller in a Separate Business

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Digitimes: Etron Technology announces plans to spin off its 3D stereo depth map processor businesses into a wholly-owned separate company. The move is said to keep its talent and enhance product line. The planned spin-off will be discussed at a special shareholders meeting on October 5. The spin-off date is expected to be January 11, 2016, Etron indicated.

5:10 AM

Espros CCD/CMOS Process Article

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LaserFocusWorld: Espros Photonics publishes an article on its CCD/CMOS process capabilities "CMOS Sensors: CMOS and CCD combine in NIR time-of-flight on-chip imager" by Beat De Coi, CEO of ESPROS Photonics, and Steven Freedman, managing director at ESPROS.

The article explains why it's difficult to create a real dual-poly CCD process in advanced process nodes:

"However, by using size features less than 0.25 μm, dual-poly is no longer possible because process nodes starting at 180 nm and less uses a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process in the BEOL. CMP requires an absolutely flat surface for the layer deposition and structuring, so a second poly silicon layer is no longer possible. The key to a good CTE is a very narrow poly gap between the two gates. Such a narrow gap can be easily achieved by the use of a 45 nm (or less) process. However, because the non-recurring engineering and tooling costs (NRE) of such technology nodes are prohibitively high, they eliminate themselves as a candidate for a CCD implementation on CMOS. The ESPROS technology tackles this dilemma by a new designed manufacturing process. This new manufacturing process allows poly gaps of less than 100 nm, even in a standard 180 nm process environment."

"...a new mixed process from ESPROS Photonics that combines CMOS and CCD attributes addresses these limitations. The choice of a suitable substrate material contributes, among other things, to a fully depleted detector thickness of 50 μm. This results in a superior QE in the NIR region, maintaining >80% QE at λ = 850 nm and >50% QE at λ = 950 nm."

11:16 PM