New Pixel Sensors Bring Their Own Compute

By giving compute powers to atomically thin versions of the CMOS sensors now found in most digital cameras, a prototype sensor array can capture images using thousands to millions of times less power, a new study finds.

CMOS sensors are a kind of active pixel sensor, which combine a light detector with one or more transistors. Although scientists have made steady progress toward more energy-efficient light detectors, the signal-conversion and data-transmission capabilities of active pixel sensors are currently extremely energy-inefficient, says study colead author Akhil Dodda, an…