It is quite an irritating task to click pictures from most camera phones. It just doesn’t matter if the mobile phone maker promises good shots. It all depends on the technology used. However all that is set to change as the Eastman Kodak Company has come up with a way to improve the performance of consumer imaging devices, especially mobile phones.
Kodak has announced that they have merged a CMOS pixel with the Color Filter Pattern technology. It has resulted into something that will revolutionize consumer camera applications. Called as the Kodak KAC-05020 Image Sensor, it will allow a new level of resolution in small optical formats that uses drastically smaller pixels. But compared to the other small-pixel sensors that come up with poor images, particularly under low light conditions, the new Kodak 1.4 micron pixel image sensor produces better quality pictures.
The TrueSense CMOS sensor by Kodak makes all the difference. A traditional CMOS pixel measures signal by detecting electrons which are generated when light interacts with the surface of the sensor. However, the TrueSense does something opposite as the signal is measured by the absence of electrons. This pixel collects a huge proportion of the light striking the sensor thereby offering a 2x to 4 x increases in sensitivity to light.
The 5MP Kodak KAC-05020 Image Sensor will give the highest resolution available in the popular 1/4″ optical format. It allows for imagery up to ISO 3200 and supports 720p video at 30 fps. Texas Instruments’ OMAP and OMAP-DM solutions support the sensor, which makes a variety of Kodak image processing along with enhancement features like digital image stabilization, rapid auto-focus, red-eye reduction and facial recognition that will be incorporated in the camera phone.
Fas Mosleh, Worldwide Director, CIS Marketing & Business Development for Kodak’s Image Sensor Solutions business says, “Smaller and thinner camera phones, high performance under low light, and superior video performance are the types of features that will enable the next generation of consumer imaging devices. And with this new Kodak sensor, camera designers can now put those features directly into the hands of their customers.”
Chris McNiffe is the general manager of Kodak’s Image Sensor Solutions business. He quoted, “Camera phones and other small-pixel consumer imaging devices often suffer from poor performance, especially under low light conditions. To manufacture sensors that utilize these very small pixels – only two to three times the wavelength of visible light – we needed to challenge everything we knew about pixel and sensor design. By completely rethinking the design of the CMOS pixel and leveraging our work with high sensitivity color filter patterns and algorithms, Kodak was able to develop this remarkable new sensor that will enable a level of imaging performance previously unavailable from CMOS devices.â€
The KAC-05020 Image Sensor by Kodak is the world’s first 5 megapixel, 1.4 micron device. It will be showcased by Kodak at the GSMA Mobile World Congress that takes place next week in Barcelona. Samples of the KAC-05020 are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2008.
