2024 New Technology Year in Review
SubC Imaging introduced significant innovations in 2024, with new technologies designed to address key challenges in underwater imaging, data collection, and operational efficiency. Each development—from compact cameras to enhanced data management and operational systems—was purposefully designed to tackle specific challenges in offshore energy, marine science, and OEM sectors. Here's a look back at the technologies that shaped this year.
Compact and Versatile Imaging: The Rayfin Micro
When space and efficiency are priorities, the Rayfin Micro delivers results in a compact design. The Rayfin Micro maintains exceptional image quality and versatility, redefining subsea imaging for confined spaces and lightweight platforms.
What it Does:
The Rayfin Micro combines LiquidOptics lenses with digital zoom (5x optical zoom equivalent) and SubC’s advanced software in a lightweight design (<500g in water). With capabilities like real-time digital stills, HD video over Ethernet, live image enhancement, and annotation, it ensures efficient data retrieval and superior image quality even in challenging underwater environments. Customizable upgrades include SubC LEDs, lasers, and DVR integration for multi-channel capability.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy: Perfect for confined spaces like pipelines, risers, and subsea infrastructure, the Rayfin Micro enables offshore inspectors to collect detailed imagery in locations inaccessible to larger systems.
Marine Science: Lightweight and non-intrusive, it’s ideal for studying sensitive ecosystems and conducting shallow-water surveys, minimizing disruption while delivering high-resolution imaging.
OEMs: The compact, customizable design and advanced features make it an excellent choice for lightweight, cost-effective ROV platforms requiring top-tier imaging performance.
Why It Matters:
Compact doesn’t mean compromise. The Rayfin Micro delivers the same exceptional imaging quality as larger cameras, ensuring users can perform precise, detailed inspections in smaller, more cost-efficient setups. With seamless integration, rapid digital imaging, and real-time data access, it offers the adaptability and efficiency needed to excel in modern underwater operations.
Streamlined Inspections: Rayfin Single Channel Inspection (SCI)
The Rayfin Single Channel Inspection (SCI) system was launched in 2024 to offer a unified platform that simplifies processes while delivering superior imaging and real-time data transfer. Purpose-built for live inspections and surveys, it empowers professionals to access critical information faster.
What It Does:
Rayfin SCI integrates high-quality imaging, real-time data transfer, and automated logging into a single-channel platform. Users can capture 12MP digital stills, record high-resolution video, and immediately access organized files with embedded GPS and sensor data, eliminating the delays of traditional data retrieval methods.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy: Perform efficient asset integrity inspections on subsea infrastructure such as pipelines, risers, and wind farm foundations, with real-time data accessible for rapid decision-making.
Marine Science: Document underwater habitats and ecosystems with precision, supported by detailed annotations and geo-referenced imagery for accurate research.
OEMs: Equip ROVs with a reliable and fully integrated inspection solution tailored for diverse operational needs.
Image Credit: NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program
Why It Matters:
Rayfin SCI transforms underwater inspections by combining simplicity with advanced functionality. By reducing operational complexity and ensuring real-time access to critical data, it streamlines workflows, saves time, and reduces costs—all while maintaining industry-leading image and data quality.
Enhanced Data Management: H.265 Video Encoding & BIIGLE Compatibility
Efficient data management is critical for underwater operations, where the volume of video and imagery can be overwhelming. SubC’s H.265 Video Encoding and BIIGLE Compatibility for its Rayfin cameras offer transformative solutions for storing, managing, and analyzing data.
H.265 Video Encoding
What it Does:
In 2024 SubC introduced an H.265 update for its signature Rayfin camera. This technology significantly reduces video file sizes—up to 50% smaller than H.264—while retaining the high-resolution details necessary for inspections and research.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy: Reduces data transfer and storage costs during offshore inspections, where bandwidth is often limited.
Marine Science: Supports long-duration missions by allowing researchers to store more video footage without sacrificing quality.
OEMs: Provides end-users with advanced video compression, enabling better data handling on integrated systems.
Why It Matters:
H.265 video encoding empowers industries to do more with less—cutting costs, maximizing storage capacity, and enabling efficient data transfer, even in bandwidth-constrained environments. This enhancement streamlines workflows and supports the growing demand for high-resolution data in subsea operations.
BIIGLE Compatibility
What it Does:
The integration with Rayfin cameras and BIIGLE enables users to annotate video and imagery, streamlining the analysis of underwater datasets. Researchers and inspectors can mark points of interest, catalog findings, and collaborate more effectively.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy: Speeds up defect identification and reporting processes.
Marine Science: Simplifies annotation and analysis for large-scale biodiversity studies or environmental monitoring.
OEMs: Adds a layer of value for manufacturers integrating data annotation into their systems.
Why It Matters:
By integrating BIIGLE, SubC enhances the usability of underwater data, making it easier to extract insights quickly and accurately. This compatibility bridges the gap between raw data collection and actionable intelligence, empowering industries to make informed decisions faster and collaborate effectively on complex projects.
Upgraded Solutions for Advanced Operations – Tow Camera System & Virtual Machine Compatibility
SubC’s innovations this year also included significant upgrades to its Tow Camera System and DVR+ Overlay solution to enhance operational efficiency and flexibility in offshore environments.
Upgraded Tow Camera System
What It Does:
SubC’s Tow Camera System got hardware and software upgrades in 2024. This solution is purpose-built for collecting high-quality visual data over large survey areas, offering exceptional imaging even in challenging underwater conditions.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy: Enhances environmental assessments for offshore projects such as wind farms, allowing detailed surveys of marine habitats and seabed conditions. It also supports asset integrity inspections by delivering clear, comprehensive footage of subsea infrastructure.
Marine Science: Facilitates long-range biodiversity studies and habitat mapping, enabling researchers to capture detailed imagery across vast underwater ecosystems with minimal disruption.
Why It Matters:
The upgraded Tow Camera System addresses common pain points in deployment, data quality, and workflow efficiency. Its pre-assembled, field-adjustable design minimizes setup time and reduces operational risk, allowing teams to focus on capturing critical data. Advanced imaging capabilities, such as high-resolution stills with LED strobing and real-time HD/4K video, ensure unparalleled clarity, even in challenging conditions. Automated data logging and instant access to findings streamline post-survey analysis, enabling faster, more informed decision-making for environmental assessments, infrastructure inspections, and scientific research. This system elevates the standard for reliable, comprehensive data collection from towed surveys.
Virtual Machine Compatibility
What It Does:
SubC’s DVR+ Overlay now offers compatibility with virtualized environments, a transformative upgrade that allows these systems to run seamlessly within virtual machines (VMs). This innovation enhances operational flexibility by reducing hardware dependencies and enabling streamlined deployment in modern digital infrastructures.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy: Streamlines data capture and processing workflows during inspections, including those conducted on space-constrained offshore platforms and vessels. It also supports environmental assessments for wind farms, enhancing efficiency and operational flexibility.
Marine Science: Facilitates seamless collaboration for research teams operating globally, supporting remote access and centralized data management for large-scale environmental studies.
OEMs: Provides manufacturers with a future-ready DVR solution that can easily integrate into diverse IT ecosystems, enabling broader system compatibility and ease of deployment.
Why It Matters:
Virtual Machine compatibility marks a shift in how SubC DVR systems can be deployed and managed. By consolidating multiple functions onto a single virtualized hardware platform, companies can minimize physical equipment needs, optimize resource utilization, and lower operational costs.
This compatibility also fosters enhanced scalability, allowing systems to adapt to evolving demands without costly hardware upgrades. The integration of DVR systems with centralized data infrastructures enables streamlined data storage, analysis, and remote access, facilitating seamless collaboration between onshore and offshore teams. SubC’s VM-ready DVR systems improve real-time decision-making and future-proof operations, ensuring compatibility with emerging technologies and setting a new standard for subsea data management.
Pioneering Industry Standards – FDA Compliance for Lasers
SubC’s achieved FDA compliance for its lasers in 2024. This compliance ensures its lasers meet stringent regulatory standards, enabling seamless shipping within Canada, the United States, and globally while maintaining exceptional performance.
What It Does:
FDA compliance certifies that SubC’s MantaRay Parallel and Skate Line lasers are not only safe for diverse applications—from precision measurement to imaging—but also meet legal requirements for cross-border shipping and use in regulated markets.
Applications Across Industries:
Offshore Energy and Marine Science: Delivers precise measurements of underwater structures and enables accurate deployment in sensitive ecosystems, supporting critical assessments while minimizing environmental impact.
OEMs: Simplifies integration and distribution, offering manufacturers and end-users peace of mind with globally certified systems.
Why It Matters:
In addition to ensuring safety and accuracy, FDA compliance unlocks new opportunities for shipping and deploying SubC’s laser systems in key regions, including Canada, the United States, and beyond. This proactive step reflects SubC’s dedication to supporting customers with reliable, regulation-ready solutions for their global operations.
Conclusion
Shape Your 2025 Survey and Inspection Plans with Our Expertise
As we look ahead to the New Year, SubC Imaging continues to drive innovation in underwater imaging and inspection technology. With a strong foundation of advancements in 2024, we are committed to helping professionals across offshore energy, marine science, and OEM sectors improve their operational efficiency, data quality, and overall performance.
