Camera of the future takes still photos and video at same instant

"Temporal pixel multiplexing" (TPM) makes it possible to shoot video of a fast-moving scene and capture a single pin-sharp moment without changing cameras.

If developed, it could turn separate video and still cameras into technological relics.

At present, single frames of a piece of video footage can be "grabbed", but the quality is always poor. Alternatively, a still camera can freeze objects in motion – a football or racing car, for instance – at high resolution.

The new technology allows one camera to do the jobs of both video and still photography with equal ease.

It works by effectively turning small groups of light-sensitive "pixels" into tiny individual cameras that take a sequence of pictures at high speed.

The pixel groups are evenly distributed, and the whole of one sequence lasts as long as it takes to take a "normal" snapshot.

The user then has two choices. The "mini-pictures" captured by the pixel groups can be displayed together as one high-resolution image, or "played" one after the other as a movie.

Researchers believe TPM could have a multitude of applications in industry, science, security systems, media and the consumer market. Plans are under way to compress the technology into an all-in-one sensor that could fit inside normal cameras.

Inventor Dr Gil Bub, an imaging expert who studies heart cells at Oxford University, said:

"The trick is that the pattern of pixel exposures keeps the high-resolution content of the overall image, which can then be used as it is, to form a regular high-res picture, or be decoded into a high-speed movie."

A University of Nottingham team is now looking at practical applications for TPM, which has already attracted interest from one UK scientific instruments manufacturer.