Asahi Techno Glass Corp. will spend JPY 400 million in summer 2004 on its factory in Shizuoka Prefecture in order to raise production of protective glass covers for digital SLR (single-lens reflex) ca…
Asahi Techno Glass Corp. will spend JPY 400 million in summer 2004 on its factory in Shizuoka Prefecture in order to raise production of protective glass covers for digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera image sensors by 70% and output of optical filters by 100%. The company said it may boost production further next fiscal year, depending on demand. The covers are made of a special glass that resists dirt and greatly reduces the light that can damage the CCD (charge-coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensors in digital cameras. Asahi Techno Glass has a virtual monopoly in the Japanese market for the product. The optical filters compensate for the sensitivity of CCD image sensors to infrared light, so that the images captured correspond to what is seen by the human eye. Asahi Techno Glass is the top maker of the high-end versions of these filters.