version 1.1 rev 04 Mar 2020
28
Sona &
Marana
1. Light (photons) hits the sensor and generates charge (electrons).
2. The photo-generated charge is converted to an analog voltage for each pixel amplifier.
3. These pixel voltages are transferred to the column bus via a row select signal.
4. The analog voltages are then converted to digital signals via columns of analog to digital (A/D) converters.
5. The final digitized signals are then read out sequentially at a pixel readout speed of up to 310 MHz.
sCMOS sensors provide benefits over more traditional CCD sensors in terms of speed and sensor size, making them
ideal for many scientific applications. The latest sensors, such as that of the Sona and Marana also now provide low
noise, and very high quantum efficiency (QE) through use of a back-illuminated design. Please refer to the Andor website
for a range of technical articles on sCMOS.
4.4.2 e
xtended
d
ynaMic
R
ange
(edR)
Sona and Marana provide an exceptional dynamic range on account of the combination of low noise floor and high
signal handling provided by the large well depth capacity.
Dynamic Range = well depth/noise floor
A dual amplifier architecture is utilised to enable both low noise, and maximum well depth to be used simultaneously.
This delivers a very high linearity of >99.7% across this range allowing for quantitative analyses. When combined with
the high frame rates and large sensor area this provides a lot of flexibility for how the camera may be used.
For dynamic images
- Use 16-bit mode to provide the data range required to capture full range images. Frame rates
will be lower than for 12-bit- however you can use Region of Interest (ROIs) to boost frame rates.
For the fastest frame rates
- 16-bit mode is the most flexible and suitable for most applications offering a high frame
rate as well as a high dynamic range. High speeds of up to 74 fps can be achieved using CoaXPress which is up to 20%
faster than other cameras that use the same sensor.
For the highest sensitivity and the lowest noise
- a low noise mode (12-bit mode) can be enabled that uses a two times
correlated multisampling (2-CMS) approach, so that a low noise floor can be achieved without sacrificing frame rate, or
the need to increase exposure times.
Max Frame Rate (fps)
Sona 4.2B-6 (USB3)
Sona 4.2B-6 (CoaXPress)
ROI Size (W x H)
16-bit
12-bit
16-bit
12-bit
2048 x 2048
40
43
74
43
1608 x 1608
64
55
94
55
1400 x 1400
85
63
108
63
1200 x 1200
116
74
126
74
1024 x 1024
148
87
147
87
512 x 512
295
174
293
174
256 x 256
587
346
587
346
128 x 128
1165
686
1165
686
2048 x 8
10240
8928
15151
8928
1200 x 8
10240
8928
15151
8928
