| Kodak sensor targets camera phone performance |
Feb. 15, 2008
Kodak has announced a 1.4-micron, five-megapixel sensor for camera phones. The KAC-05020 will increase image quality, cut noise, and quadruple light sensitivity, the vendor boasts, thanks to a new color filter pattern with clear pixels, and a "Truesense CMOS pixel" design reversing traditional sensor polarity.
Camera phones lag behind other digital cameras because their sensors, and consequent pixel size, are smaller. They suffer from poor performance in low light conditions because each sensor pixel -- normally about 1.75 microns in phones, according to Kodak -- measures only two to three times the wavelength of visible light. Even dedicated compact digicams do not do well in low-light conditions, which is why camera enthusiasts often turn to digital SLRs, which have room for larger sensors.
Kodak touts its new KAC-5020 as providing better performance than previous camera phone sensors, even with a smaller 1.4 micron pixel size, thanks to two different technologies. The first is the company's Truesense pixel design, which reverses normal sensor polarity. Traditionally, the company explains, signals are measured by detecting electrons that are generated when light hits the surface of a sensor. On the KAC-5020, it is the absence of electrons that is measured.
Kodak says the Truesense technology reduces crosstalk between adjacent pixels by 300 to 400 percent. As a result, it's claimed, random background noise in an image is drastically reduced.
In addition to its new sensor design, the KAC-5020 also uses a new color filter pattern, adding panchromatic ("clear") pixels to the red, green, and blue pixels that were already present. Since these pixels are sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light, they can add significantly to the amount that is caught by the sensor. This provides a 200 to 400 percent increase (from one to two photographic stops) in light sensitivity, according to Kodak.
The company says that, at five megapixels, the KAC-5020 provides the highest resolution available in the 1/4-inch optical format. It can also capture up to 30 frames per second of 720p HD video. When used with TI OMAP and OMAP-DM solutions, it can provide features such as digital image stabilization, rapid auto-focus, red-eye recognition, and facial recognition, Kodak adds.
Availability
Kodak demonstrated the KAC-5020 at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The sensor will be sampled during the second quarter of this year, the company says.
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