OmniVision’s New 64MP Image Sensor Is Ready for 5G
As the transition to 5G kicks into gear, smart phone designers will be adjusting to the increased functionality that faster data rates and greater storage capability will provide. Enhanced image resolution is one potential benefit – despite getting smaller and smaller, smart phone cameras are capturing higher quality images than ever before. Digital image sensors have the unenviable task of having to provide higher resolution while simultaneously lessening the overall impact they have on a smartphone’s design and resources. OmniVision, an old hand in the world of digital imaging solutions, just announced the debut of a 64 MP image sensor with just 0.8 micrometer pixels, meaning each pixel is less than 20% the size of a human blood cell. The company expects the OV64C to compete in what’s becoming a rapidly accelerating market.
“TSR (Techno Systems Research, a Japanese market research firm) estimates there will be 127 million image sensors with 64 MP or higher resolution shipped to smartphone manufacturers in 2020,” said Arun Jayaseelan, Staff Marketing Manager at OmniVision. “The OV64C, with its premium resolution and features, is well positioned to address this ramp in demand among high end smartphone designers.”
The OVC64C is essentially an on-chip 4-cell CFA (color filter array) coupled with a hardware re-mosaic that delivers 64MP Bayer output in real-time. The majority of modern digital cameras capture an image using an image sensor overlaid with a CFA. The most commonly used CFAs in photosensors are known as Bayer filters – they assign each pixel in an image a color value, either red, blue or green. The raw output from cameras equipped with Bayer filters are called Bayer pattern images – with each pixel given a single color value, the resulting images look like tile mosaics, like the kind you see on the exterior walls of churches and community centers. Turning those pattern images into a full color image requires a process called “demosaicing,” by which an algorithm interpolates (deduces) how the image should look from the available data points provided by the CFA. A green pixel surrounded by blue pixels will be partially shaded blue, a red pixel that borders green pixels will be partially shaded green, and so on.
The new sensor, based on Omnivision’s PureCel® Plus stacked die technology, promises to deliver high quality video captures as well as still images. It can implement electronic image stabilization (EIS) to output 4K video at 30 frames per second (fps) or 60 fps sans EIS and 8K video at 30 fps. It also provides features like 2X digital crop zoom with up to 16 MP resolution and staggered HDR timing for video modes. The OVC64C also implements a CPHY interface to increase throughput while utilizing fewer pins, which the company believes makes the sensor an optimal solution for rear-facing cameras on smart phones with multi-camera configurations.
The added image clarity smartphone cameras can provide coupled with 5G’s improved processing capabilities will likely result in new and improved features for smart phones, even some that have yet to be conceived of. Augmented reality could be a beneficiary of higher resolution images and faster processing. Ever been in the produce section of the grocery store and wondered which type of lettuce on sale is the freshest? An app on your phone could analyze a photo and tell you where the lettuce came from, how long it had been stored/transported and at what temperature – maybe produce that’s been on the shelves for a few days could be discounted. The app may even be something you can subscribe to, similar to the way subscribing to Amazon Prime gets you discounts at Whole Foods.
As digital image sensors in smart phones continue to provide higher resolution and better features, it leads you to wonder whether handheld digital cameras will continue to exist. Phones are expensive as it is, why duplicate its function with another expensive electronic device when your phone can capture images and video that are just as high in quality? OmniVision’s focus on smartphone cameras in prescient – they might be the only digital cameras left when the 5G revolution finally comes.