Dissecting Time

A Review of the Development of Ultra High-Speed Imaging Techniques

Ever since the invention of photographic materials, film makers, engineers and scientists have sought to capture and understand the behaviour of objects which move faster than the eye can see.Researchers on several projects have successfully used Specialised Imaging Simultaneous Multichannel Framing Camera and Streak Camera Systems to provide unique insights into an ultra-fast events.

Specialised Imaging has written an article which describes the innovative methods used to capture increasingly faster events. It introduces techniques such as intermittent motion, rotating prism/mirror and slit designs for film cameras, continues through to high-speed VHS / digital video cameras and on to the use of intensifiers for ultra high-speed framing and streak imaging techniques. All of which have led to where we are at now - with solutions like Specialised Imaging’s SIM cameras, which capture up to one billion frames per second while simultaneously allowing streak image recording using the same objective lens.