Sony Europe's Image Sensing Solutions (ISS) has said that it has no plans to discontinue any industrial camera products related to CCD sensor availability before March 2026.
The company made the statement following news that Sony will discontinue production of CCD sensors in March 2017. Operations will cease on the company’s CCD 200mm wafer line at the Kagoshima Technology Centre in Japan.
Sony is a major supplier of CCD sensors for machine vision camera companies. Many commentators feel that Sony’s announcement is not surprising, largely because of the advances made in CMOS technology.
In an article for Imaging and Machine Vision Europe, Pierre Cambou at market research firm Yole Développement, commented: ‘The time of CMOS image sensors has now come. Volume CCD manufacturers like Sony have to take the necessary steps to get out of this business before their revenues fall below the running cost of their organisation and facilities.’
Sony said CCDs will feature in the company’s new products for 2015 including the Cubic GigE XCG-C range.
Sony ISS senior marketing manager, Matt Swinney, said in a statement: ‘Sony CCD-based industrial cameras will not be discontinued due to CCD sensor availability until 2026. There is no requirement to ask our customers to provide “last time buy” estimations because it is not necessary.’
In the last few years, Sony released its first global shutter CMOS sensors, the Pregius sensors, which combine aspects of both CCD and CMOS in the pixel design.
In 2015, Sony will expand its range of CMOS based industrial cameras and release a 4k camera for industrial use.
Related articles:
End of the line for the CCD? - Pierre Cambou at Yole Développement assesses what the move means for machine vision camera suppliers
Unconfirmed reports of Sony to discontinue CCDs
CMOS takes charge - Greg Blackman on the advances being made in image sensor technology for machine vision, including Sony’s first global shutter CMOS sensor
CMOS market to reach $13bn by 2018
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