Theia launches widest Day/Night megapixel lens without distortion

Wilsonville, Oregon, January 16th, 2009

Theia Technologies announced today the launch of their SY110 megapixel lens for the security industry. The SY110 is an extension of their line of ultra wide angle, no distortion, mega-pixel lenses, bringing much needed Day/Night capability to the mega-pixel market.

With the SY110 lens, Theia reinforces its track record of innovation. In addition to all-optical barrel distortion correction, the SY110 lens can be used on Day/Night, as well as standard security cameras, to focus crisply in both visible and Infrared (IR) light. The lens is unique because it is the widest, no distortion megapixel lens available on the market today with the ability to capture high resolution images in both day and at night without having to re-focus the camera. Until now, this was not possible.

“With the SY110, we have responded to market demands for a Day/Night lens. We have been bombarded with requests for our wide angle technology for use on Day/Night cameras. We are excited to be able to deliver a Day/Night lens without distortion that will serve the real needs of the security industry,” says Jeff Gohman, President and co-founder of Theia Technologies.

Theia leveraged their patented Linear Optical Technology™ platform to provide up to 120 degrees horizontal field of view (HFOV), without the barrel (fisheye) distortion found with all other wide angle lenses. The new SY110 lens is designed to provide a nominal 110 degree HFOV with a 1/3” sensor, and offers 120 degrees with a 1/2.5” sensor. Theia’s SY125 lens which provides up to 135 degrees HFOV captured the Security Industry Association’s New Product Showcase Award in 2008. The advantage of wide angle lenses is that they allow a greater area to be covered with fewer cameras and lenses.

The new SY110 lens reinforces Theia’s track record for supplying high quality megapixel lenses to the industry and enabling crisp, high resolution images from megapixel cameras. The industry suffers from a lack of “good glass” to make good on the promises of megapixel camera technology. “There are not many high quality wide angle megapixel lenses out there suitable for pairing with our megapixel cameras and Theia’s lenses fill the gap with a great looking image. Their ultra wide field of view provides excellent situational awareness when needed. And their new SY110 lens makes a perfect companion to Avigilon’s line of Day/Night megapixel cameras,” says Dave Tynan, VP of Global Sales for Avigilon.

“While the lens is designed for use with multi-megapixel cameras, we believe that the lens may also be attractive for use with standard and high resolution CCTV cameras,” says Andrea Iñiguez, VP Business Development for Theia Technologies. “We were able to design the lens in such a way as to retain the high quality, no-distortion image performance, yet bring the price to a level that would be attractive to a wider security market,” explains Iñiguez.

The lens will be offered with a CS mount, in both auto and manual iris versions. Theia will begin shipments of the auto-iris February 4th , and the manual version by February 10th, 2009. To place orders, or for more information, contact Andrea Iñiguez, (503) 570-3296, or visit www.TheiaTech.com

Theia Technologies, founded in 2006, provides ultra wide-angle megapixel lenses for security and machine vision applications. Their award winning Linear Optical Technology™ provides up to 135 degree horizontal field of view with very low distortion. The patented technology corrects barrel distortion and improves image resolution over typical lenses. Theia has several issued and pending US and foreign patents for lens technologies.

See the pdf version of this press release.