Santa Clara, Calif. — OmniVision Technologies, Inc. is offering a 5-megapixel system-on-a-chip (SOC) camera solution aimed at the high-volume autofocus (AF) camera phone market. Built on OmniVision’s 1.4-micron OmniBSI backside illumination (BSI) technology, the OV5640 is optimized to offer a cost-effective, complete camera solution with excellent pixel performance for 5-megapixel photography and 720p or 1080p high-definition (HD) video in camera phones.
Because the OV5640 is a single-chip SOC solution, it is easier to tune than two-chip solutions (RAW + external ISP), delivering cost and time-to-revenue benefits as well easier platform integration, said OmniVision. The sensor’s embedded AF control with voice coil motor driver offers further cost savings.
“The OV5640 SOC sensor offers handset manufacturers a fully-featured yet extremely cost-effective solution for bringing excellent quality image capture and HD video to the mainstream handset market. Moreover, our OmniBSI technology differentiates itself from competing products by enabling best-in-class low-light sensitivity as well as an ultra compact camera module that is 8.5 x 8.5 mm with a z-height of less than 5 mm, a form factor which is required for today’s ultra-thin handsets,” said Vinoo Margasahayam, product marketing manager for OmniVision, in a statement.
The OV5640 enables 720p HD video at 60 frames per second (fps) and 1080p HD video at 30 fps with complete user control over formatting and output data transfer. The 720p/60 HD video is captured in full field of view (FOV) with 2 x 2 binning, which doubles the sensitivity and improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
In addition, a unique post-binning re-sampling filter function removes zigzag artifacts around slant edges and minimizes spatial artifacts to deliver even sharper, crisper color images, said OmniVision. To further improve camera performance and user experience, the OV5640 features an internal anti-shake engine for image stabilization.
The OV5640 offers a digital video port (DVP) parallel interface and a high-speed dual lane MIPI interface, supporting multiple output formats. An integrated JPEG compression engine simplifies data transfer for bandwidth-limited interfaces.
The sensor’s automatic image control functions include automatic exposure control (AEC), automatic white balance (AWB), automatic band filter (ABF), 50/60Hz automatic luminance detection, and automatic black level calibration (ABLC).
The OV5640 delivers programmable controls for frame rate, AEC/AGC 16-zone size/position/weight control, mirror and flip, cropping, windowing, and panning. It also offers color saturation, hue, gamma, sharpness (edge enhancement), lens correction, defective pixel canceling, and noise canceling to improve image quality
Availability: The OV5640 is available in CSP, RW and COB packaging options and is sampling now. Mass production is expected in the second half of 2010