SteadyShot is the trademarked name of the integrated
image stabilisation
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
technologies used in
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
video
camcorders
A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swap ...
,
DSLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...
cameras,
mirrorless cameras and on
Sony Xperia
Xperia () is the brand name of smartphones and tablets from Sony. The name Xperia is derived from the word "experience", and was first used in the Xperia X1 tagline of "I Xperia the best".
Sony Mobile was previously known globally as Sony Er ...
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s and
tablets. Different versions of these technologies are known as Super SteadyShot (SSS) in Sony's
Cyber-shot
Cyber-shot is Sony's line of point-and-shoot digital cameras introduced in 1996. Cyber-shot model names use a DSC prefix, which is an initialism for "Digital Still Camera". Many Cyber-shot models feature Carl Zeiss trademarked lenses, while oth ...
product line, in addition to SteadyShot INSIDE (SSI) and Optical SteadyShot (OSS) in the
Sony α
Sony α (the lower case to Greek letter alpha, often transliterated as ''Sony Alpha'') is a digital camera system introduced on 5 June 2006. It uses and expands upon Konica Minolta camera technologies, including the Minolta AF SLR lens mo ...
family.
Design
When a camera is operated hand-held, the operator's shaky hands cause instabilities in the captured image stream. ''SteadyShot'' technology works inside the body of the camera. It uses
motion sensors
Motion detection is the process of detecting a change in the position of an object relative to its surroundings or a change in the surroundings relative to an object. It can be achieved by either mechanical or electronic methods. When it is done b ...
to detect the user's movements. SteadyShot then compensates for some of these movements, in some versions by moving the optics (OSS) and in some versions by moving the image sensor (also called IBIS: ''In Body Image Stabilisation'') in an opposite direction to the movement.
This approach is contrasted to ''
digital image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pi ...
'' in which the physical image is allowed to "track" the scene on the
CCD by
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
to produce a stable image. The digital technique requires the pixel count to be increased to allow the image to move on the sensor while keeping reference points within the boundaries of the capture chip.
Balanced Optical SteadyShot
Instead of moving only the sensor or only one of the lenses, ''Balanced Optical SteadyShot'' (BOSS) moves the whole lens block to compensate for camera shake. Sony claims this is 13 times more effective than previous versions of SteadyShot. This feature is unique to Sony camcorders and action cams. It was introduced in the beginning of 2012.
SteadyShot is entirely internal to the camcorder unlike external stabilisation systems such as the
Steadicam
Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
.
See also
*
Image stabilization
References
Film and video technology
Image stabilization
Sony cameras
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