Image Sensor IC Said To Obsolete CCDs In Consumer Apps

Claimed to be the industry's first single-chip, megapixel (1280 x 1024) image sensor, the PCS2112 CMOS IC can convert color images into 10-bit digital pixels at rates of up to 102 frames/s. Two other firsts are also claimed for the chip: its design eliminates the extra chips and downstream processing required by existing CMOS sensors to remove fixed pattern noise; and, through use of a programmable circuit, the sensor performs color balancing in the analog domain before digital conversion, thereby eliminating additional downstream processing. The IC is expected to obsolete CCDs in consumer applications because it uses ten times less power, operates from a single supply, and does not require any support chips. The low-power IC operates from a 3.3V supply and dissipates only 180 mW (max.), helping qualify PCS2112 for use in digital video and still cameras, as well as making it possible to integrate cameras into PDAs and notebooks. And because of its ability to be programmed on-the-fly to select between resolution, frame rate and bit depth, the image sensor also makes possible a new breed of digital camera that combines both still and video camera features. Other PCS2112 on-chip features include a sensor array consisting of more than one million square (7.5 x 7.5 µm) active-pixel photodiodes in a 2/3" optical format and an I²C interface running at 100 KHz to load the parameters that control programmable features such as color balancing and frame rate.