The QHY600M uses the latest SONY IMX455 back illuminated sensor in Industrial 'K' Grade for the highest performance and reliabilty. This is a full frame (36mm x 24mm) format sensor with 3.76µm pixels and native 16-bit A/D. This sensor is available in both monochrome and color versions.
This version of the 600M has an ultra short back focus. It does not have the tradition dovetail on the face. Instead it features a front plate secured by 6 screws. When fitted with the stand front plate this results in a back focus of 12.5mm. This allows the 600M-PH-US to be used with a QHY filter wheel, Off Axis Guider and any DSLR lenses as provides a 55mm back focus overall. As such the 600M-PH-US is well suited to widefiled imaging or use in systems that have very restrictive back focus.
For an explanation about the differences between 'K' and 'C' Grade Sensors and what makes the QHY600 series special, please see this link to our Tutorials section.
The new Sony sensor used in the QHY600 has native 16-bit A/D on-chip. The output is a 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. This leads to the possibility of images with superb dynamic range.
One benefit of the back-illuminated CMOS structure is improved full well capacity. This is particularly helpful for sensors with small pixels. Even unbinned, 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-
The QHY600 has only one electron of read noise at high gain / full resolution and a 4FPS readout speed. One electron of read noise means the camera can achieve a SNR>3dB at only 4 to 6 photons. This is perfect performance when conditions are photon limited, i.e., short exposures, narrow band imaging, etc. This makes the sensor ideal for sky surveys, time domain astronomy, fluorescence imaging, DNA sequencing and microscopy.
In order to provide smooth uninterrupted data transfer of the entire 60MP sensor at high speed, the QHY600 has 2GB DDR3 image buffer. In addition the camera features a USB3.0 interface for transmission of data at high speed.
Specifications
Model QHY600M-PH-US Mono
Image Sensor SONY Full Frame BSI CMOS Sensor IMX455ALK-K (Industry Grade) This sensor is available in both -C (consumer grade) and -K (industry grade). General speaking the -K version has longer lifetime than the -C version. Currently ,both the monochrome QHY600 Photographic version and monochrome QHY600 Professional version use the -K version of the sensor.
Pixel Size 3.76µm x 3.76µm Mono
Sensor Surface Glass AR+AR Multi-Coated
Sensor Type Back-Illuminated (BSI)
Effective Pixels 61.17 Megapixels 9576 x 6388 effective area (9600 x 6422 with overscan and optically black area)
Effective Image Area 36mm x 24mm
Full Well Capacity (1x1, 2x2, 3x3) Standard Mode >51ke- / >204ke- / >408ke- Extend Full Well Mode >80ke- / >320ke- / >720ke-
A/D 16-bit (0-65535 levels) at 1x1 binning 18-bit at 2x2, 19-bit at 3x3, 20-bit at 4x4 software binning *QHY600 uses software digital binning for 2x2binning. With digital sum, 2x2binning will be four 16-bit summed then it is 18-bit.
Sensor Size Full Frame Format (36mm x 24mm)
Image Transfer Speed
Full Frame Size: 4.0FPS (8-bit output)
Full Frame Size: 2.5FPS (16-bit output)
7.2FPS at 9600 x 3194
22.5FPS at 9600 x 1080
28FPS at 9600 x 768
47FPS at 9600 x 480
160FPS at 9600 x 100,
Read Noise 1.0e- to 3.7e- (Standard Mode)
Dark Current 0.0032e-/p/s @ -20C 0.0056e-/p/s @ -10C
Exposure Time Range 40µs - 3600sec
Firmware/FPGA remote Upgrade Supported. Via Camera USB Port
Shutter Type Electric Rolling Shutter
Computer Interface USB3.0
Built-in Image Buffer 1GBytes（8Gbit）/ 2GBytes（16Gbit）DDR3 memory Non-volatile memory / On camera storage Build-in total 64MByte Flash Memory. 10MBytes user-accessible space for stellar ROI frames for analysis of exoplanet investigation, occultations, atmospheric seeing measurement, focus, optical analysis, etc. Supports 100*100 image x 500 frames, 50*50 image x 4000 frames, 25*25 image x16000 frames, 10*10 image x 250000 frames
Cooling System Dual Stage TEC cooler: - Long exposures (> 1 second) typically -35C° below ambient - Short exposure (< 1second) high FPS, typically -30C° below ambient
Water Cooling Version Available optionally. QHYCCD can offer this version. Contact us for more details
Anti-Dew Heater Yes
Telescope Interface M54/0.75 using supplied adaption
Optic Window Type AR+AR High Quality Multi-Layer Anti-Reflection Coating
Power 40W/100% 20W/50% 13.8W/0%
Back Focal Length 12.5mm (±0.2mm). This allows use with QHY Filter Wheel plus OAG and DSLR Lenses.
Weight (net) 870g
