Bright Mode

Bright mode allows you to capture videos at high frame rates and yet delivers image brightness up to four times higher than Normal mode. By adopting interlaced scan, Bright mode delivers Full HD videos at 240 frames per second (fps) equivalent. Toshiba offers state-of-the-art video technologies necessary to realize high-frame-rate video capturing with outstanding picture quality, which makes for smooth slow playback.

Slow motion can be realized when a video is played back at a rate slower than that at which it was captured. The more frames per second, the smoother the video will be when replayed in slow motion. Therefore, a high frame rate is desirable when capturing a fast-moving object.

Suppose, for example, that you capture a moving object at 60 fps and 240 fps and then replay the two versions of the video at 30 fps. When a video captured at 60 fps is replayed at 30 fps, the flow of images appears to be jumpy. The video captured at 240 fps has four times as many frames per second as the one captured at 60 fps and thus plays back more smoothly.

The more frames captured per second, the shorter the exposure time per frame and the darker the image will be. Therefore, an innovative technology was necessary to realize high picture quality and high frame rates simultaneously.

Bright mode quadruples image brightness by using a charge binning method to double the brightness of each pixel and by securing twice the exposure time for each frame. Additionally, use of the interlaced output doubles the frame rate. These techniques combine to realize bright video capturing at high frame rates.

Charge binning: 2× brightness

Charge binning adds the charges of two pixels and outputs the sum as one pixel with double brightness.

Interlaced output: 2× frame rate

The most commonly used scanning method for CMOS sensors is progressive scan in which all the lines of each frame are output in sequence. In contrast, Bright mode uses interlaced scan in which only the odd lines of each frame, and then the even lines, are output alternately, doubling the frame rate.

Exposure time for two consecutive frames: 2× brightness

Interlaced scan makes it possible to extend the exposure time up to the length of two consecutive frames. Therefore, it delivers video capturing with up to twice the exposure time for each frame.

CMOS image sensors with Bright mode can capture videos at a rate of 240 fields per second at the interlaced Full HD video output. Furthermore, Toshiba will also provide an interlace-progressive conversion program that enables users to offer high quality progressive video with low deterioration, without changing frame rate.