Just a couple of weeks ago, we reported on the handshake-eliminating algorithm invented by the smart people from MIT. Very promising piece of software that can help minimize the effects of handshakes even after the fact. But what it doesn’t do is eliminating blur caused by motion. This is where Mitsubishi’s new flutter shutter technology comes in.
Current traditional cameras all have single shuttered exposures. And when a shutter speed too low is used for a capturing fast-moving object, the result is a motion-blurred picture of the subject.
The prototype flutter shutter attempts to solve this problem by attaching in front of any camera lens, and fluttering its ferroelectric shutter based on a coded sequence. It is like splitting a single exposure into multiple short exposures. And by applying a post-capture linear system algorithm, the resulting image is an absolutely sharp and de-blurred one.
“We have UV filters. We have polarizing filters. What about time filters?†said senior research scientist Ramesh Raskar.
By combining flutter shutter technology with MIT’s handshake-eliminating algorithm, I can foresee a future where even non-professional photographers are able to capture tack-sharp pictures of moving subjects without breaking a sweat.
For now, a fast shutter speed or the use of a strobe remains the key to freezing motion in photography.
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