Native 16-bit ADC with 65536 levels

The QHY600 is cooled CMOS camera with native 16-bit A/D on-chip. The output is real 16-bits with 65536 levels. Compared to 12-bit and 14-bit A/D, a 16-bit A/D yields higher sample resolution and the system gain will be less than 1e-/ADU with no sample error noise and very low read noise.

Great Full Well Capacity

One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure is improved full well capacity. This is particularly helpful for sensors with small pixels. Even with unbinned, 3.76um pixels, the QHY600 has a full well capacity of more than 51ke-. When binned 2x2 to 7.5um the full well is 196ke- and when binned 3x3 to 11um the full well is 441ke-.

Breakthrough Low Read Noise

The QHY600 has only one electron of read noise at high gain and 4FPS high readout speed. One electron of read noise means the camera can achieve a SNR>3 at only 4 to 6 photons. This is perfect performance when conditions are photon limited, i.e., short exposures, narrow band imaging, etc., making this large area sensor ideal even for the most challenging astrophotography.

Electronic Shutter

QHY600 is equipped electric shutter. In general, a mechanical shutter can fail if it is used many times. The advantage of an electronic shutter over mechanical shutter is high reliability and stability when the observatory shoots a large number of pictures.