PCO Imaging (''PCO AG'') is a developer and manufacturer of camera systems for scientific and industrial applications.

History

The company was founded in 1987 by Emil Ott, who worked as a researcher at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

. During the conducting of scientific measurements with intensified slow scan cameras, he was convinced of the fact that the existing camera standard did not meet the requirements of scientific applications. Therefore, he founded PCO (''Pioneers in Cameras and Optoelectronics'') to improve the technology of the existing camera systems. The developed technologies of PCO are since then used for

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

machine vision Machine vision (MV) is the technology and methods used to provide imaging-based automatic inspection and analysis for such applications as automatic inspection, process control, and robot guidance, usually in industry. Machine vision refers to m ...

solar cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

quality control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach places ...

, measuring

velocity Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a ...

and

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...

alongside to

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of micr ...

and further applications.

Products

STS-135 Last Space Shuttle start in slow motion

The company designs, manufactures and distributes scientific imaging devices equipped with scientific complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (sCMOS), complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) and

charge-coupled device A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

(CCD) sensor technology. In 2016, the company introduced the first luminescence lifetime imaging camera based on a high frequency modulated CMOS image sensor which is called ''pco.flim''. The pco.flim CMOS camera can be used for a vast variety of biomedical applications that require a large frame and high-speed acquisition. The new technology for sCMOS (scientific CMOS) image sensors was launched in 2009 during the ''Laser World of Photonics fair'' in Munich as Joint Venture from PCO with the companies Andor Technology and

Fairchild Camera and Instrument Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation was a company founded by Sherman Fairchild. It was based on the East Coast of the United States, and provided research and development for flash photography equipment. The technology was primarily use ...

. In general, CCD-based cameras offer high sensitivity but slow sampling speeds. Conventional CMOS cameras offer very fast frame rates but compromise dynamic range. sCMOS image sensors, on the other hand, offer extremely low noise, rapid frame rates, wide dynamic range, high quantum efficiency, high resolution, and a large field of view simultaneously in one image. This makes them particularly suitable for high fidelity, quantitative scientific measurement and low-light-level conditions.CMOS (sCMOS) Technology: An Overview''
PhotonicsOnline, Ron Grunsby, June 18, 2012, accessed on September 18, 2018 Pco

References

External links

PCO AG
Official Website Electronics companies of Germany German brands Manufacturing companies established in 1987 Manufacturing companies of Germany Multinational companies headquartered in Germany {{Germany-company-stub