# INRS's C-BLIP profilometry records 3D surface motion at up to 150,000 frames per second

- Published: 2026-11-13 10:44 UTC
- Section: Science › Instruments & experiments
- Tags: C-BLIP, fringe projection profilometry, ultrahigh-speed 3D imaging, 150,000 frames per second, digital micromirror device, INRS Québec, Nature Communications, 3D metrology, ultrasound visualization, incoherent light
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-3e80d496fc097c7c1c1c2db1_inrs_s_c/

**The C-BLIP method projects grayscale fringes at ultrahigh speed with incoherent light and streams 3D images continuously. In demonstrations it reached 150 kfps.**

![INRS's C-BLIP profilometry records 3D surface motion at up to 150,000 frames per second](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/022a9cf7abb5d435.png)
*nature.com*

Researchers led by Cheng Jiang and Jinyang Liang at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS, Québec) have developed chromatically band-limited illumination profilometry, C-BLIP. According to nature.com, the method images 3D surfaces at up to 150 thousand frames per second (kfps) [1]. The work was published in Nature Communications.

C-BLIP belongs to single-shot fringe projection profilometry. A 3D object is illuminated with periodic fringes, and the 3D surface shape is recovered from the deformed fringe image [1]. The authors state that earlier time-resolved systems were limited by the speed of pattern projection and image acquisition, and that their imaging speed was capped at about 22 kfps [1].

## How the system works

On the illumination side, C-BLIP combines a digital micromirror device with a user-selectable encoding region of interest and a custom-designed projection lens. The lens provides chromatically band-limited illumination, so programmable grayscale fringes are produced from binary patterns using incoherent light sources [1]. Defocusing and spatial filtering, used in earlier approaches, either distort the phase or require coherent light, according to the authors [1].

On the detection side, the system acquires spatially multiplexed color fringe images and then reconstructs the 3D image [1]. This allows continuous streaming rather than recording into the internal memory of a camera [1].

## Demonstrations

The authors demonstrated color 3D imaging of a turbofan blade-projectile collision at 25 kfps. They also showed intensity 3D imaging of the fall aerodynamics of a maple samara at 75 kfps, and ultrasound encryption and recovery at 150 kfps [1].

According to the INRS retelling, in one controlled experiment the camera recorded the vibrations of a loudspeaker membrane, and a spoken message was reconstructed from them. The camera captures the membrane motion, not the sound waves in the air. The research team describes the speed as a record for optical 3D profilometry. The authors name industrial inspection, bionics and data security as areas of application [1].

## Sources

1. [nature.com](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78478-w)
2. [ingenieur.de](https://www.ingenieur.de/forscher-filmen-mit-150-000-bildern-pro-sekunde-und-machen-schall-sichtbar-43b36641-95dd-4e90-895d-00a709f3a68d)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-3e80d496fc097c7c1c1c2db1_inrs_s_c/