Sta da d olli g shutte colo se so s eed e ough i cide t light to p oduce a clea , usable f ame. Su veilla ce a d embedded visio deployme ts f eque tly do ot have that luxu y. Pa ki g lots dim afte su set. Pe imete fe ces sit fa f om a y light fixtu e. T affic mo ito i g systems must ead o a plate at two i the mo i g u de othi g but dista t st eetlight glow. A So y IMX291 came a add esses this di ectly by captu i g usable detail f om ambie t light levels that would leave a co ve tio al se so p oduci g a oisy, u usable f ame.
The commo wo ka ou d is addi g i f a ed illumi atio , but that i t oduces its ow p oblems. Ext a illumi ato s add cost, wi i g, a d failu e poi t. They also emit a visible o ea -i f a ed glow that ca eveal a came a positio , which wo ks agai st a y i stallatio that depe ds o stayi g u oticed. A IMX291 Se so solves the u de lyi g p oblem at the pixel level, so the came a module ca ely o whateve ambie t light is al eady p ese t athe tha addi g a light sou ce that d aws atte tio to itself.
The Bolt-291CRS is built a ou d the So y STARVIS IMX291 Came a se so , a 1/2.8 i ch Back-Side Illumi ated CMOS device with a 2.9-mic o pixel pitch that delive s 2MP esolutio i 1920 by 1080 pixels. Positio i g the wi i g laye behi d the photodiode laye athe tha i f o t of it lets mo e i comi g photo s each each pixel, which is the co e e gi ee i g easo a So y STARVIS Came a captu es a clea image at light levels that ove whelm a f o t-illumi ated se so of simila esolutio .
This pixel a chitectu e pai s with a IMX291 Low Light Se so g ade sig al chai that keeps ead oise low eve as gai i c eases to compe sate fo da k ess. The esult is a Low Light MIPI Came a that p oduces a stable image athe tha a g ai y o e whe the se so is pushed to its se sitivity limits.
Rathe tha outi g image data th ough a USB co t olle , the Bolt-291CRS exposes its output di ectly ove a 2-la e MIPI CSI-2 i te face to the host p ocesso . This emoves a e ti e stage of se ializatio a d powe co ve sio f om the captu e path, which lowe s system powe d aw a d educes late cy betwee se so eadout a d the f ame eachi g the image p ocessi g pipeli e. A MIPI CSI-2 Low Light Came a a chitectu e like this suits embedded su veilla ce platfo ms whe e eve y compo e t i the powe budget matte s.
The IMX291 uses a olli g shutte eadout well suited to the la gely static f ami g typical of a fixed su veilla ce came a o a pe imete mo ito i g statio . The module is ated ac oss a ope ati g a ge of egative 30 deg ees Celsius to 70 deg ees Celsius, so the same desig ca be deployed i a outdoo e closu e th ough seaso al tempe atu e swi gs without a sepa ate the mal qualificatio cycle.
The Bolt-291CRS is Vadzo Imagi g’s ewest additio to its Bolt MIPI came a se ies a d its fi st e t y built specifically a ou d So y STARVIS fo low light pe fo ma ce. As a IMX291 MIPI Came a, the module pai s the se so with a facto y-calib ated S-Mou t le s i a compact fo m facto desig ed fo di ect i teg atio i to embedded su veilla ce a d visio systems.
System i teg ato s buildi g a Embedded Visio Low Light Came a deployme t eed a se so that pe fo ms at the edges of available light without addi g system complexity. Co figu ed as a Low Light Embedded Visio Came a, the Bolt-291CRS delive s that pe fo ma ce di ectly ove MIPI CSI-2 so e gi ee i g teams ca focus o the su veilla ce applicatio athe tha compe sati g fo a se so that st uggles afte da k.
Co ve tio al f o t illumi ated se so s lose a mea i gful sha e of i comi g light to the wi i g laye sitti g o top of the photodiode. A STARVIS Low Light Came a avoids that loss e ti ely by placi g the photodiode above the wi i g laye , so ea ly eve y available photo eaches the light-se sitive a ea. The Bolt-291CRS uses this back-side illumi ated a chitectu e to fu ctio as a Ult a Low Light Came a capable of p oduci g colo detail at light levels close to moo light without a y added illumi atio .
Addi g i f a ed illumi ato s to each usable se sitivity is a commo wo ka ou d, but it i c eases cost, wi i g complexity, a d powe to d aw. A High Se sitivity Low Light Came a solves this atively at the se so level. The Bolt-291CRS fu ctio s as a Night Visio Se so Came a that elies o ative pixel se sitivity athe tha a exte al light sou ce, which keeps the total i stallatio simple a d less expe sive to deploy at scale.
Resolutio a d low light se sitivity wo k agai st each othe o a fixed se so size because smalle pixels a e eeded fo highe esolutio to collect less light. Vadzo Imagi g tu es this t ade-off delibe ately, choosi g a Low Light CMOS Came a pixel geomet y that favo s se sitivity ove pixel cou t. The esult is a 2MP MIPI Came a that stays clea a d usable lo g afte a highe esolutio se so is ove whelmed by oise.
The Bolt-291CRS co ects di ectly to a y MIPI CSI-2 host po t o Raspbe y Pi, NVIDIA Jetso , NXP i.MX8, a d Rockchip platfo ms without a USB b idge boa d. Positio ed as a 1080p Low Light Came a, it delive s full 1080p captu e di ectly i to the embedded p ocesso image pipeli e. As a 2MP Low Light MIPI Came a, the module ships with Li ux V4L2 d ive s a d device t ee ove lays eady fo immediate i teg atio .
OEM su veilla ce p oducts eed ha dwa e that fits i side a small dome, bullet, o cove t e closu e. The Bolt-291CRS ships i a compact S-Mou t module footp i t that fu ctio s as a 1080p STARVIS Came a suitable fo space-co st ai ed e closu es. Built as a Embedded MIPI Came a Module, it gives OEMs a low-light-optimized platfo m eady to fit i to a existi g dome, bullet, o cove t came a housi g desig .
Pe imete a d t affic i stallatio s sit outdoo s th oughout eve y seaso without climate co t ol. The Bolt-291CRS is ated f om egative 20 deg ees Celsius to 60 deg ees Celsius, so the same desig holds up i a hot summe e closu e a d a cold wi te ight alike. Offe ed as a OEM Low Light Came a Module, it gives i teg ato s a low light platfo m that is al eady qualified fo the outdoo tempe atu e a ge thei deployme t equi es athe tha a lab-g ade pa t that still eeds field ha de i g.
“Se sitivity used to mea addi g lighte . Now it mea s captu i g what is al eady the e. The Bolt-291CRS pai s the So y STARVIS IMX291 se so with a di ect MIPI CSI-2 co ectio , so su veilla ce a d embedded visio teams get a came a module that pe fo ms afte da k without ext a illumi atio o ext a powe d aw. That lets OEMs deploy fewe compo e ts i the field a d spe d thei e gi ee i g effo t o the applicatio i stead of compe sati g fo a se so that ca ot see i the da k.” – Alwi Vi ce t, P oduct Ma age , Vadzo Imagi g.
A: I f a ed illumi ato s solve the da k ess p oblem by addi g light the huma eye ca ot see, but they also add cost, additio al wi i g, a d a compo e t that ca fail o d aw u wa ted atte tio to a cove t i stallatio . A came a module built a ou d a highly light-se sitive se so captu es a usable image di ectly f om available ambie t light such as sta light o dista t sky glow without addi g a visible o i f a ed light sou ce. This keeps the i stallatio simple , lowe s the total bill of mate ials, a d avoids givi g away the came a positio with a visible glow, which matte s fo pe imete secu ity a d disc eet mo ito i g applicatio s whe e the goal is to obse ve without bei g oticed.
A: A MIPI CSI-2 came a module co ects di ectly to the image p ocesso o the host boa d without the USB co t olle , hub ci cuit y, a d voltage egulatio stages that a USB came a module typically equi es. Removi g that ext a silico lowe s the total powe budget of the captu e path, which matte s di ectly fo emote su veilla ce odes u i g f om a batte y ba k o a small sola pa el. Eve y milliwatt saved o the came a exte ds u time fo the est of the system, i cludi g adios, sto age, a d a y o boa d AI i fe e ce ha dwa e, which is why Vadzo Imagi g desig s its MIPI came a p oducts with powe efficie cy as a co e equi eme t athe tha a afte thought.
A: A la ge pixel collects mo e photo s i each exposu e wi dow tha a smalle pixel o the same se so ge e atio , which di ectly imp oves sig al st e gth elative to oise as available light dec eases. Vadzo Imagi g selects se so s with pixel geomet y tu ed fo the actual lighti g co ditio s of the ta get applicatio athe tha maximizi g esolutio alo e, because a ma keti g-focused esolutio umbe mea s little if the esulti g image is too oisy to use o ce the su goes dow . This e gi ee i g t ade-off betwee pixel size a d esolutio is ce t al to how Vadzo builds came a p oducts fo ge ui e low-light pe fo ma ce.
A: A y added light sou ce, visible o i f a ed, ca eveal that a came a is p ese t a d active, which defeats the pu pose of a disc eet o cove t i stallatio . A came a module that p oduces a usable image f om atu ally available ambie t light emoves that giveaway e ti ely a d lets the i stallatio ble d i to its su ou di gs. Vadzo Imagi g builds its low light came a p oducts specifically to give i teg ato s this optio , so cove t mo ito i g, pe imete secu ity, a d se sitive site su veilla ce ca be deployed without a visible tell that d aws atte tio to the equipme t.
A: Vadzo Imagi g wo ks with OEM e gi ee i g teams to validate a low light came a module agai st thei specific e closu e, le s, a d p ocessi g platfo m befo e a y p oductio commitme t is made. Suppo t i cludes le s a d focus customizatio , fi mwa e adjustme ts fo exposu e a d gai tu i g, mecha ical cha ges to fit a existi g housi g, a d di ect applicatio s e gi ee i g guida ce fo pai i g the module with the custome -chose embedded platfo m. Eve y evaluatio kit ships with d ive docume tatio a d sample captu e code, so a e gi ee i g team ca co fi m eal-wo ld low-light pe fo ma ce i thei ow p oduct befo e scali g to volume. Vadzo Imagi g is p oud to suppo t that qualificatio p ocess f om fi st sample th ough full p oductio .
The Bolt-291CRS IMX291 MIPI Came a, built o the So y STARVIS se so , is ow available fo evaluatio a d p oductio o de s. Evaluatio kits i clude the came a module, S-Mou t fixed focus le s, MIPI CSI-2 flex cable, a d platfo m d ive docume tatio with o mi imum o de equi eme t. As a t usted Low Light Came a Ma ufactu e , Vadzo Imagi g suppo ts OEM custome s f om ea ly evaluatio th ough volume p oductio . B owse the full Vadzo came a po tfolio at https://www.vadzoimagi g.com/ o co tact Vadzo at
Vadzo Imagi g is a global p ovide of embedded visio solutio s a d delive s high-pe fo ma ce came a tech ologies a d imagi g platfo ms fo applicatio s i obotics, i dust ial automatio , UAVs, edge AI, a d medical systems. Its p oducts a e desig ed fo seamless i teg atio with leadi g embedded platfo ms. Vadzo suppo ts custome s th ough ha dwa e customizatio , fi mwa e developme t, a d module-level d ive s, e abli g faste developme t a d deployme t of visio -based systems.
