Is Hitachi The Next Company To Exit The Video Electronics Market?

In the past 24 months we've witnessed a remarkable shift in the industrial video marketplace. Manufacturing, automotive, aeronautics, and robotics are quickly adapting highly integrated technologies for smart vision systems.

The shift is leaving behind some video electronics manufacturers who are unable to adapt their products quickly. Demand for component products, e.g. cameras, optics, data capture hardware, is declining.

This is manifesting itself in strategic acquisitions or in some cases capitulation. Earlier this week we learned of the acquisition of Point Grey Research by FLIR Systems, a clear case of one company expanding it's intellectual property and another recognizing it's limitations in the changing landscape.

Now we learn Hitachi is considering divesting it's interest in Kokusai electronics, a long time giant in professional video products for industrial, medical, and broadcast. In April Hitachi reported a net drop in income of 26% from the division, citing a rapidly changing business environment for failure to meet their targets.

Hitachi, Japan’s second-largest manufacturer, is reviewing its portfolio amid a slowdown in demand from China as well as oil- and gas-producing countries, hit by low prices for crude. Hitachi Ltd is considering a sale of its controlling stake in Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc that could ultimately lead to a [...]

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Last year Sony announced they would cease production of their CCD sensor product lines, a move that would cripple many video electronics manufacturers. They quickly reversed that decision amid harsh criticism by customers. However, it's only a matter of time before CMOS overtakes CCD as the technology of choice for visions systems.

"We can expect these consolidations and divestitures to continue through 2020 as the glut of vision electronics manufacturers reassess demand for new technologies and the continue decline of  'old school' vision component products"  said JD Martin, product strategist for Industrial Camera Sales based in Traverse City Mi.

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FLIR Systems (FLIR) to Acquire Point Grey Research for $253M

FLIR Systems has been on fire as of late with new innovative products and aggressive marketing campaigns. Now with the announced acquisition of Point Grey Research, FLIR will roll into the machine vision and specialty imaging market.

Over the past decade Point Grey Research has announced a continuous stream of innovative products and made a name for themselves offering high performance cameras backed by solid engineering designs. The $253 million dollar deal is expected to be finalized in the 4th quarter of 2016.

Get the Pulse of the Market with StreetInsider.com's Pulse Picks . Get your Free Trial here . FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR ) announced today that it has reached a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire the business of Point Grey Research, Inc., a leading developer of machine vision [...]

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PGR's aggressive pricing policies put tremendous pressure on it's competitors, and some say, damaged the market's reseller distribution channels. All eyes will be on FLIR to see what changes, if any, they make to PGRs product distribution and pricing policies.

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How To Choose a Camera for Infrared or Thermal Imaging

With so many options available in thermal imaging and near infrared cameras, you can spend an enormous amount of time researching and choosing the best camera for your application.  Advances in both longwave infrared (LWIR) and short wave infrared (SWIR) imaging, have opened up a broad range of applications in industrial process and condition monitoring, surveillance, agriculture, and of course military.  At the same time cost of devices and technologies is dropping rapidly.

This comprehensive article posted on Vision Systems Online provides an excellent overview of both SWIR and LWIR technologies and how to choose what is, and what is not, important for your application.

Understanding the relative temperature differences in a color-mapped thermal image is easy but if accurate temperature measurements are required, a number of potential error sources must be considered. These include the emissivity of the surface being measured, the viewing angle of the camera, surface reflections, the transmission characteristics of the target, atmospheric attenuation, spatial resolution limitations and motion blur. If one or more of these considerations are overlooked, temperature accuracy will suffer.
Temperature measurements captured by a thermal camera consist of transmitted, reflected and emitted energy, the measured temperature being the sum of these three energy components. Transmitted energy is the energy passing through the object while reflected energy is the energy reflected from the target to the camera. Emitted energy is the energy generated by the target. Generally, when measuring the temperature of an object, the emitted energy is of primary concern. [...]

Click here to view original web page at optics.org

The United States and China are important export markets for Germany, making up as much as 20% of export sales for machine vision systems in 2016.

Click here to view original web page at www.vision-systems.com

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Germany Extends 2015 Gains With Record Sales of Machine Vision Systems Expected For 2016

Germany's industrial association, VDMA, is forecasting an 8% increase ins sales of machine vision systems to €2.2 billion for 2016, that's on top of a 9% rise seen in 2015.

Smart technologies are revolutionizing automation, enabling machines to 'see' in 3-D and interact with the entire manufacturing process rather than just the end process of quality control. Non-industrial applications such as transport, logistics, traffic control, and medical technologies are growing at the rate of 15% and are expected to contribute significantly to grow in intelligent vision system sales.

From Henry Tipping in Stuttgart With the German machine vision industry having achieved record sales of €2 billion in 2015 – a rise of 9 percent compared to the previous year – the VDMA, Germany’s industrial association, has forecast a further rise of 8 percent to €2.2 billion in [...]

Click here to view original web page at optics.org

The United States and China are important export markets for Germany, making up as much as 20% of export sales for machine vision systems in 2016.

The Vision 2016 Expo is anticipated to be a record breaking event, with over 400 exhibitors.

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ON Semiconductor Announces 8 Megapixel Ultra Low-Light EMCCD Imager With Integrated TE Cooling

ON Semiconductor has announced that their latest innovation, KAE-08151 IT-EMCCD imaging sensor, is now available for sampling in both monochrome and color models. This remarkable 8 megapixel imager combines two established imaging technologies, an electron multiplying CCD with the architecture of multi-megapixel imaging. Device packaging is available with thermal electric cooling (TEC), to extend low noise performance to even further.
The new imager promises low electron noise with a dynamic range from sub-lux to bright light imaging. The company is targeting high resolution microscopy and scientific imaging applications in the low light regime.
The KAE-08151 is available now in sample quantities, with the TEC package option available in early 2017.

A Product Datasheet for the KAE-08551 can be found here http://www.industrialcamerasales.com/resources/sensors/kae-08151.pdf

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON ), driving energy efficient innovations, continues to strengthen its position in low-light imaging solutions for industrial markets with the introduction of new products based on interline transfer electron multiplying charge-coupled device (IT-EMCCD) technology. The new 8-megapixel KAE-08151 image sensor is the second device [...]

Click here to view original web page at finance.yahoo.com

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Will embedded vision systems radically change the face of machine vision?

Ten years ago the idea that today's cars would be sporting forward looking smart vision systems would have been considered ridiculous.  Yet, here we are.

The rapid rise of embedded image processors, low cost high resolution imaging sensors, and advances in data processing and communications is rapidly transforming machine vision technologies.

In this article by Greg Blackman, IMVEurope, he posits that in the very near future machine vision systems won't just be stations on a factory line maintained by workers, but rather embedded vision systems will be fundamental components of production machines that see and think.

EMBEDDED VISION Greg Blackman investigates the rise of embedded vision and finds that advances in computer hardware are set to revolutionize factory automation Imaging and Machine Vision Europe : August/September 2016 What will tomorrow’s factories look like? One point of view from Jeff Bier, founder of the Embedded Vision [...]

Click here to view original web page at www.imveurope.com

Industrial Camera Sales, headquartered in Grand Rapids MI, is a supplier of machine vision components.  "We are rapidly rethinking our product lineup.  I think the days of selling cameras and optics as individual components as a primary revenue stream are rapidly coming to an end" say Jeff Stiegman, Partner and Marketing Strategist for IndustrialCameraSales.com.

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Thermal Imaging Market Expected to Double by 2022

According to a recent report by Markets & Markets, infrared imaging, specifically long wave thermal imaging, is expected to almost double from $6.43 billion USD in 2015 to $11.36 billion by 2022.

Surveillance applications are leading the growth with military, home security, and industrial plant monitoring or surveillance included in that category.

North America held the largest market share in 2015 due to rapid technology development and deployment.
MarketWatch details the infrared market segments in the following article and suggestsIn this article from MarketWatch the infrared market segments surveillance will continue to drive the market in the foreseeable future.

PUNE, India, Jul 28, 2016 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) -- PUNE, India, July 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Infrared Imaging Market by Component (IR Lens System, IR Sensor, IR Detector), Technology (Cooled, Uncooled), Type (Fixed, Portable) , Wavelength (NIR, SWIR, LWIR, FIR), [...]

Click here to view original web page at www.marketwatch.com

Industrial Camera Sales is responding to the growth in infrared vision technology by adding thermal imaging and applications products to it's line.  "We expect thermal imaging applications to make up a substantial portion of our revenue in 2017" says JD Martin, partner and Online Sales Manager for Industrial Camera Sales.
IndustrialCameraSales.com is headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI. Their thermal imager product line up can be found at industrialcamerasales.com/thermal-imagers
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