Aug 23, 2011 13:23 GMT  ·  By

Displays may have adopted HD and full HD as a sort of standard, but OmniVision wants to make sure cameras aren't forgotten, so it released what it describes as its newest and best image sensor to date.

Cameras have been growing in quality the same way the rest of the IT sector has been advancing in performance, energy efficiency, space efficiency and other aspects.

This goes for more than just photo and video cameras and camcorders, as notebooks, tablets, etc., all reached a stage where having a webcam is a default element.

That said, OmniVision's newest product is an image sensor intends to serve such mobile electronics, as well as portable media players and other such things.

The 1/6-inch OV9770, as it is called, uses the 1.75-micron OmniBSI-2 pixel architecture (it is the first to do so), which uses a 300 mm copper process based on 65 nm design rules.

It should be 20% better at capturing images in low lighting conditions, compared to its predecessors, and should also sport just as great an improvement in peak quantum efficiency, plus a 50% growth in full-well capacity.

Also, it uses little power, a small die size and the ability to capture 30 frames per second in full 1,280 x 720 pixels without issue.

“HD has quickly become the standard for TVs and displays. Now we see HD becoming the de facto standard for cameras,” said Nicholas Nam, director of product marketing at OmniVision.

“Over 50 percent of notebooks are already equipped with HD resolution cameras. We believe the key driver for continued HD camera market growth is sensor performance. The OV9770 therefore sets a new quality standard for HD video capture in 720p by combining our strongest current low-light performance (SNR10) with our highest available sensitivity and dynamic range.”

Mass production will only start in the fourth quarter of the ongoing year, but samples are already shipping.