Phantom HD

The Discovery Channel's series Time Warp, in which a MIT scientist and teacher along with a digital-imaging expert uses new technologies to bring truly never-before-seen wonders into a form that your body can actually process. Using the latest in high-speed photography, the Time Warp team takes some natural events (a cat licking its paw, a champagne bottle being opened) — and some not-so-natural (a water balloon to the face, a raw piece of chicken exploding) — and turns them into a thing of both beauty and learning.



It’s the technology behind the spots that is perking up filmmakers. The team used Phantom HD cameras made by Vision Research, cameras specifically designed to address the demanding needs of the digital cinematographer, an instrument that gives the cinematographer 35mm depth of field either at HD or 2K resolutions @ 1000 fps with a maximum Frame Rate of 100.000 fps @16x8! The Phantom HD now combines the visual quality of high-definition imaging with the high frame rates of specialty cameras.


One of the initiators and founders of Vision Research Inc. in Wayne, New Jersey, United States, was the Romanian Alexandru Aciu, Edgerton Prize laureate for the invention of CMOS technology for high-speed images capture. For Phantom v4.0 camera concept, considered one of the 100 most innovative technologies of 2000, Alexandru Aciu and Vision Research Inc. received the R&D 100 Award of the prestigious journal R&D. Two years later, R&D awarded them the prize for the Phantom v5.0. Born Timişoara, Romania, Alexandru Aciu emigrated to the United States with his wife in 1990. On 4 June 2004, after a long battle with cancer, Alexandru Aciu's life ended. Contribution to the development of digital technology captures images in high-speed is permanently filled by the team of designers led by Romanian Petru Pop.