CMOS sensor

Wednesday, December 9th 2009 - 18:30 CET - Comments: 0

T he IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference provides a view of the near future. Tomoyuki Suzuki, Senior Vice-President of Sony in Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan, will be one of the various international speakers, and will speak about the challenges that the company is facing concerning the development of image sensors. Looking at the digital camera, a huge development has taken place. The first CCD sensors for consumer electronics were used in the mid-80's in video cameras. In the years that followed, the digital camera made its appearance and proved a great breakthrough. Several quality and performance breakthroughs became reality. The rest, as we know, is history.

 

CMOS sensor for camcorders and mobile phones

In 2005, the first digital HD camcorder with an integrated CMOS sensor was introduced. From that point onwards, it became possible to capture 1080i HD video in combination with a CMOS image sensor. The industry was able to further develop the CMOS sensor, with great innovations. And still there are remarkable enhancements and advances to report. Enhancements from which not only the DLSR camera will benefit, but also the mobile phone. Both digital products are likely to benefit from these innovations.

 

10 megapixel CMOS sensor with unprecedented specifications

The DSLR camera and mobile phone market, equipped with a CMOS sensor, will only expand. Whereas the 2 Megapixel camera was a sensation in 1999, we are now dealing with ultra-fast high-resolution sensors. Tomoyuki Suzuki will discuss a 10 megapixel CMOS sensor with unprecedented specifications. The sensor provides a dynamic range of more than 70dB, which enables processing a 10 MP shot at a speed of 50fps, and it can even handle a speed of 60fps in 16:9 mode.

CMOS sensor integration in mobile phones

According to Tomoyuki Suzuki, the mobile phone will also integrate this type of sensor, which would imply an unprecedented performance enhancement. Tomoyuki's expectations for the future are high. While as long as the CMOS sensor will improve, the consumer products will benefit from it. Important developments such as 3D, 4Kx2K, the so-called global shutter, etc. are being mentioned. It all sounds very positive!

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