Scientists create photographic technique

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OXFORD, England, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- University of Oxford scientists say they've developed a technology that's capable of capturing a high-resolution still image alongside very high-speed video.

Researchers led by Peter Kohl said they combined off-the-shelf technologies found in standard cameras and digital movie projectors to create a tool that will transform many forms of detailed scientific imaging and could provide access to high-speed video with high-resolution still images "from the same camera at a price suitable for the consumer market."

They said the new technology -- the idea of researcher Gil Bub -- has been patented by the university and is attracting interest from the scientific imaging sector.

"What's new about this is that the picture and video are captured at the same time on the same sensor" said Bub. "This is done by allowing the camera's pixels to act as if they were part of tens, or even hundreds, of individual cameras taking pictures in rapid succession during a single normal exposure. The trick is that the pattern of pixel exposures keeps the high resolution content of the overall image, which can then be used as-is, to form a regular high-res picture, or be decoded into a high-speed movie."

The research is detailed in the journal Nature Methods.