On Tuesday Kodak announced their 50-megapixel CCD sensor KAF-50100, measuring 49.1mm x 36.8mm, normally the full frame sensor measures 24mm x 36mm. Hasselblad earlier today announced their latest 50-megapixel camera using the sensor.  The new sensor becomes the highest resolution  non-scientific sensor, superseding Kodak’s 39-megapixel KAF-39000 sensor. To fit more pixels on the same chip Kodak shrunk the size of each pixel from 6.8 microns in KAF-39000 to 6 Microns in KAF-50100. The new chip will have 18MHz throughput compared to 24MHz for the KAF-39000 chip. But the performance has increased as the new chip KAF-50100 has 4-channel output compared to 2 channels in the old chip. Kodak says the chip is more energy efficient also. According to Cnet, performance specs seem to take a hit; quantum efficiency (how successful the electrons are at getting where they need to go), blooming protection (how well the chip handles the electron overflow caused by bright light) and dynamic range seem to drop as well. But Kodak claims that key performance parameters are retained compared to the current 6.8-micron designs. The sensor will release in 4th quarter of 2008 and we will find out, how it performs.