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Mitsubishi develops "flutter shutter" for deblurring pics
Recent projects are really putting the hurt on bluriness. We saw camera shake take a big hit with the recent MIT project that uses a fancy algorithm to sharpen a picture, but does nothing for moving objects. This new tech from some Mitsubishi tackles the motion blur problem thanks to a relatively simple "flutter shutter" attachment on the actual camera. Their device uses a coded exposure sequence to cut a normal exposure into short burst, allowing processing software to sharpen any fast moving objects in the picture. The prototype is based on an 8 megapixel Canon PowerShot Pro1, but the method can apparently be applied to any camera, and would even work as a built-in feature on a consumer cam -- though it'll probably be a few years before it trickles down that far. In the more immediate future the tech seems a great fit for security cameras, since the system can help decipher blurry license plates. Senior research scientist Ramesh Raskar likened the method to a UV filter or a polarizing filter, and based on Mitsubishi's examples of the flutter shutter in action, the tech could really be a boon to all sorts of photography.
