CIF Image Sensor Lowers The Price Bar For Digital Cameras

Claiming to lower the cost of adding cameras to devices such as toys, security systems and PCs, the ICM-102A CIF-resolution, CMOS digital color imaging device incorporates a 352 x 288 sensor array and operates at 1 to 30 frames/s. Its 0.143" optical system keeps the sensor area to 2.1 mm x 1.7 mm with 6 µm² pixels. In conjunction with timing circuitry, an internal nine-bit a/d converter performs correlated double sampling. Other features include a digital gain control, electronic exposure control, and separate RGB channel gain. The eight-bit output can be fed into other DSP, color-processing or compression chips. Available in a ceramic or plastic LCC48 package, price is $7 each/1,000.