Samsung has expanded its industry-leading portfolio of CMOS image sensors to include a new high-definition 1/4-inch, 1.2 Megapixel (Mp) system-on-chip (SoC) imager, the S5K4AW, for notebook and desktop computers.

Developed with a strong focus on real-time high-definition (HD) video capture, Samsung’s new S5K4AW sensor has immediate applications in areas such as business video conferencing, Internet video sharing, direct to web scanning, biometrics and security, said an official.

“The notebook and desktop PC market requires an image sensor solution specifically optimised for video,” said Dr Yiwan Wong, vice president of marketing for Samsung Electronics’ System LSI Division.

“For PC users, the main concern of an embedded camera is video, not still image capturing. We’re addressing this nuance with our new CMOS image sensor SoC that has been completely designed, and performance optimized, with high-definition and VGA video in mind,” he stated.

Dr Wong pointed out that instead of developing a sensor with 1.3Mp, which is better suited for still image capture, Samsung’s new S5K4AW CMOS image sensor SoC addresses the specific needs of HD video applications.

By incorporating a technique called binning in 2x2 pixel groups, the S5K4AW’s 1.2Mp resolution (1280x960 pixel format) also can display standard VGA format without the need for cropping, he added.

According to him, with this technique, Samsung has eliminated the annoying problem of losing the top or the bottom of a scene while video conferencing or video file sharing on social media networks such as YouTube.

Real-time video capture presents other challenges for sensor designers, including how to deal with low light sensitivity. The same binning technique used by Samsung’s new S5K4AW sensor for video resolution also significantly improves the imager’s sensitivity to low light.

The industry’s typical method of binning results in an improved sensitivity of approximately 1.2x, he observed.

Samsung’s breakthrough in binning shows a sensitivity improvement of nearly 3x. This is critical when the only illumination on the scene might be from the computer screen itself.

“Embedded display cameras are rapidly becoming a standard feature for PCs and notebook computers,” said Bob O’Donnell, program vice president, clients and displays for IDC.

“With the move to wide format displays, HD video is coming to the PC, making HD formatted cameras developed specifically for this market standard as well,” he added.

Samsung is currently sampling its S5K4AW CMOS image sensor SoC to select customers.  Mass production is expected in the first half of 2009.-TradeArabia News Service