Photron

Photron is an international company that manufactures high-speed digital cameras based in Tokyo, Japan, with offices in San Diego, California & United Kingdom. The Photron FASTCAM cameras are used for capturing high speed images and playing these images in slow motion. Use of a High-speed camera can be found in a broad variety of industries. A few of the industries include: flow visualization, flame propagation, ballistics, firearm studies, material science, weapon development, biological science, biophysics, vehicle impact studies (crash safety), manufacturing, mining, automotive, and scientific research.
History.
Photron is a business unit of IMAGICA Robot Holdings, Inc., The Imagica Robot Group started about 70 years ago at Kyoto Uzumasa, Japan, the center of the Japanese film industry, when it began film processing businesses such as film developing. Photron was founded in 1974. Photron began manufacturing professional film, video and photo-instrumentation equipment in Japan. Photron expanded into photo optics and electronic technologies including the manufacture of high speed digital cameras. There is a mutual benefit between Photron and their parent company Imagica in sharing technology such as color science, broadcast expertise and image processing. Photron name combines photon and electron, the fundamental process of creating electronic digital images from light. Photron's early high-speed cameras were only available in Japan. Photron advanced their sensor technology in 1990 by working with Kinki University in Japan on a new design based on a block readout multichannel NMOS architecture. This new development produced a 256 pixel x 256 pixel x 4500 fps NMOS sensor which surpassed the fastest high-speed camera at that time, the Eastman Kodak SP2000 Motion analyzer (240 x 192 x 2000 fps). After 1991, Photron continued to manufacture and sell high-speed cameras into Asia. However, Photron wanted to make available their new sensor technology to serve other applications outside ASIA. Photron reached an agreement with Eastman Kodak MASD to manufacture for MASD two high-speed cameras, the HS 4540 and the Motioncorder trade branded as Kodak Ektapro products. These two products were sold by Eastman Kodak MASD into Europe, North America and parts of Asia until 2000. Photron assume worldwide responsibility of their products after 2000, naming the HS 4540 as the Photron FASTCAM SE and the Motioncorder as the Photron FASTCAM Super 10K.
Cameras and applications.
Over last 10 years, Photron has been recognized for their contributions to high speed imaging. Photron high-speed cameras can operate 20,000 fps at 1024 x 1024 pixel at 12-bit pixel resolution to ultra high-speed cameras operating over 2.1 million frames per second. Designers, manufacturers, and R&D/Test engineers use high-speed cameras to proof their designs with motion analysis, solving the issues that can only been viewed in non-real time slow motion. Cameras vary by size, resolution and Frames Per Second (fps. An example is the SA5-RV which is used in extreme environments where heat or vibration can't be managed.