Nikon releases the Z 30 APS-C size mirrorless camera which is ideal for vlog contents creators
Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch 360 Edition review
Reports argue that mobile phone camera market is slowing
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According to a market report from China "global mobile phone image sensor market is declining, and it is recommended to deploy multi-level product lines, combined with production capacity advantages, to impact market share." [English translation]Suggestion: Improve product functional value, upgrade product structure, and be cautious in large-scale expansion
Canon to join the Rugby World Cup commercial family for New Zealand 2021 and France 2023
Videos du jour – June 24, 2022
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CASS Talks 2022 - Jose Lipovetzky, CNEA, Argentina - April 8, 2022. Viewing ionizing radiation with CMOS image sensors.
Distributed On-Sensor Compute System for AR/VR Devices: A Semi-Analytical Simulation Framework for Power Estimation (Jorge GOMEZ, Research Scientist, Reality Labs, Meta)
This video briefly introduces the Global Shutter product line of PixArt. It provides insights into the key competitiveness of PixArt's Global Shutter products by comparing their ultra-low-power consumption rates and advanced built-ins with other similar products in the market.
Chronoptics compares depth sensing methods
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In a blog post titled "Comparing Depth Cameras: iToF Versus Active Stereo" Refael Whyte of Chronoptics compares depth reconstructions from their indirect time-of-flight (iToF) "KEA" camera with active stereo using an Intel RealSense D435 sensor.
Depth data can also be overlaid on RGB to get colored point cloud visualizations. KEA provides much cleaner-looking results:
They show some limitations too. In this scene the floor has very low reflectivity in IR so the KEA camera struggles to collect enough photons there:
[PS: I wish all companies showed "failure cases" as part of their promotional materials!]
Full article here: https://medium.com/chronoptics-time-of-flight/comparing-depth-cameras-itof-versus-active-stereo-e163811f3ac8
BrainChip + Prophesee partnership
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New image sensor in ARRI’s latest Alexa 35 cine camera
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From NewsShooter: https://www.newsshooter.com/2022/06/01/arri-alexa-35-first-look/ARRI has officially unveiled the ALEXA 35, a new Super 35 digital cinema camera with 17 stops of dynamic range and a host of new features that are all aimed to provide the best possible image quality.The ALEXA 35 has big shoes to fill as it is the first ARRI camera to feature a sensor that isn’t based on the ALEV-III. The ALEV-III has been used in various forms in every single ALEXA camera since 2010. The ALEXA 35 represents the next big step for ARRI in the evolution of the ALEXA family.
Recent Image Sensor Videos
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PhD Thesis on Dynamic Range Improvements
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A PhD thesis titled "Proposal of Architecture and Circuits for Dynamic Range Enhancement of Vision Systems on Chip designed in Deep Submicron Technologies" by from Universidad de Sevilla is now available to the public. The thesis is by Sonia Vargas Sierra who did this work at the Image Sensor group of Microelectronic Institute of Seville.
The work presented in this thesis proposes new techniques for dynamic range expansion in electronic image sensors. Since Dynamic Range (DR) is defined as the ratio between the maximum and the minimum measurable illuminations, the options for improvement seem obvious; first, to reduce the minimum measurable signal by diminishing the noise floor of the sensor, and second, to increase the maximum measurable light by increasing the sensor saturation limit.
In our case, we focus our studies to the possibility of providing DR enhancement functionality in a single chip, without requiring any external software/hardware support, composing what is called a Vision-System-on-Chip (VSoC). In order to do so, this thesis covers two approaches. Chronologically, our first option to improve the DR relied on reducing the noise by using a fabrication technology that is specially devoted to image sensor fabrication, a so-called CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) technology. However, measurements from a test chip indicated that the dynamic range improvement was not sufficient to our purposes (beyond the 100dB limit). Additionally, the technology had some important limitations on what kind of circuitry can be placed next to the photosensor in order to improve its performance. Our second approach has consisted in, first, designing a tone mapping algorithm for DR expansion whose computational needs can be easily mapped onto simple signal conditioning and processing circuitry around the photosensor, and second, designing a test chip implementing this algorithm in a standard CMOS technology.
This thesis is organized in five chapters. Chapter 1 describes the main concepts involved in image sensors focusing in High Dynamic Range (HDR) operation. Chapter 2 presents the study of an image sensor optimized technology in order to be considered for dynamic range improvement techniques. Chapter 3 describes an innovative tone mapping algorithm used to optimize the compression of HDR scenes. Chapter 4 introduces the image sensor chip that has been designed and fabricated, which implements the new tone mapping algorithm. Chapter 5 shows the experimental results and evaluation of the performance of the chip.
- S. Vargas-Sierra et al., "A 151 dB high dynamic range CMOS image sensor chip architecture with tone mapping compression embedded in-pixel", IEEE Sensors J. Jan. 2015. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6860247
- Mori et al., "A 4.0 μm Stacked Digital Pixel Sensor Operating in a Dual Quantization Mode for High Dynamic Range," IEEE TED June 2022 issue. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/
abstract/document/9762367/
Fujifilm INSTAX mini Link 2 review
Evolution of Image Sensor Architectures With Stacked Device Technologies (IEEE TED June 2022)
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In a paper titled "Evolution of Image Sensor Architectures With Stacked Device Technologies" in IEEE TED (June 2022) Y. Oike writes:
The evolution of CMOS image sensors and their prospects using advanced imaging technologies are promising candidates to improve the quality of life. With the rapid advent of parallel analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and back-illuminated (BI) technology, CMOS image sensors currently dominate the market for digital cameras, and stacked CMOS image sensors continue to provide enhanced functionality and user experience in mobile devices. This article reviews the latest achievements in stacked image sensors with respect to the evolution of image sensor architecture for accelerating performance improvements, extending sensing capabilities, and integrating edge computing with various stacked device technologies.
AlpsenTek vision sensor startup raises nearly $30 million
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Chinese vision sensor startup AlpsenTek raised nearly $30 million in Series A funding
AlpsenTek(锐思智芯), a Chinese machine vision sensor startup, announced on June 6 that it raised nearly RMB200 million($30 million) in Series A funding earlier this year.
The investment was was jointly led by Xunxing Investment - an investment company of Chinese smartphone brand OPPO and Cowin Capital.
AlpsenTek’s original investors ArcSoft Corp, Sunny Optical Industry Fund, Clory Ventures, Shenzhen Angel FOF, Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group, and Zero2IPO Group also participated in this round of funding.
Founded in 2019, AlpsenTek is a company engaged in the research and development of machine vision sensors and algorithms. The company is headquartered in Beijing and has offices in Shenzhen, Nanjing, and Switzerland.
AlpsenTek employs an international team of professionals from elite research firms worldwide with extensive expertise in developing algorithms, software, hardware, and chips, according to the company.
The core products of AlpsenTek are the ALPIX series hybrid biomimetic vision chips and integrated machine vision solutions. The company said that it holds a complete core set of intellectual property rights and in-house development capabilities to fill technology gaps in machine vision. The company also has begun to cooperate with leading players in the industry. Its products can be widely used in robots, smartphones, unmanned driving, drones, security, and other fields, with a potential market size of over RMB1 trillion ($150 billion).
Original article: https://jw.ijiwei.com/n/821276
Smartphone imaging trends webinar and whitepaper
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From Counterpoint Research (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Over the last few years, steady upgrades in CMOS image sensor (CIS) technology combined with the evolution of chipsets – and the improvements in AI they enable – are bringing step-change improvements to smartphone camera performance.
Counterpoint Research would like to invite you to join our latest webinar Smartphone Imaging Trends: New Directions Capturing Magic Moments which will be attended by key executives from HONOR, Qualcomm, and DXOMARK as well as a renowned professional photographer and director Eugenio Recuenco.
The webinar is a complement to an upcoming Counterpoint Whitepaper (also to be released on June 8) which will cover smartphone imaging trends, OEM strategy comparisons, the key components of a great camera and show how technology is helping to unlock creative expression.
The camera has always been a major component of the smartphone and a key selling point among consumers. In the past, smartphone cameras lagged far behind even the most basic DSLRs as form factor and size constraints impacted picture and video quality. But technology has now advanced to the point where today’s top flagship devices are capable of delivering DSLR-like performance.The rise of AI algorithms, advancements in multi-frame/multi-lens computational photography, more powerful processors, the addition of dedicated image signal and neural processing units and, of course, the compounding of R&D experience has resulted in today’s smartphone cameras rivalling dedicated imaging devices.In fact, the smartphone’s comparatively compact form factor is an advantage, as clicking pictures and recording videos are becoming integrated into our daily lives through the growth of social media. The role of the camera has shifted to become a life tool, as end-users migrate from being simply consumers of content to creators.This new direction that imaging has taken warrants further advancements in smartphone cameras, as we lean on technology to make the experience easier while allowing all of us to be more creative.
Table of Contents:IntroductionSmartphone Imaging TrendsMegapixels: More is not necessarily betterMulti-camera modules: Covering all scenariosImage processing: Pushing the laws of physicsOEM Imaging ComparisonsAs hardware slows, innovation growsWhere the magic happensNew magic, new directionsMeasuring QualityComponents of an exceptional smartphone cameraImage processing innovationDXOMARK ReadoutCapturing Magic MomentsPowering art through technologyConclusion
Lucid Vision Labs discusses EMVA 1288 specs for Sony IMX492
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Lucid Vision Labs has released a new video overview of Sony's rolling shutter 47MP IMX492 sensor.
The video discusses quantum efficiency (time stamp 2:02), saturation capacity (3:04), temporal dark noise (3:15), and dynamic range (3:27). It also compares it to some of other higher resolution sensors (31.4MP IMX342, 24.5MP IMX530, 20MP IMX183)
Canon commences sales of a new ‘Grade 10’ productivity upgrade option for FPA-6300ES6a KrF scanners that realizes industry-leading high-productivity standard of 300 WPH
Vayyar Raises Series-E
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Vayyar, a company developing radar-imaging sensor technologies, today announced that it raised $108 million in a Series E round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with participation from GLy Capital Management, Atreides Management LP, KDT, Battery Ventures, Bessemer Ventures, More VC, Regal Four and Claltech. The round brings Vayyar’s total raised to over $300 million, which CEO Raviv Melamed said is being put toward expanding across verticals and introducing a “family” of machine learning-powered sensor solutions for robotics, retail, public safety and “smart” building products.“We are pleased and proud to progress our partnership with existing investors including KDT, as well as additional backers which are joining forces with us for the first time,” Melamed said in a statement. “During a challenging period for the global economy, this new funding round is a ringing endorsement of our mission and a clear vote of confidence in the strength of our technology and the strategic agility of our organization.”Founded in 2011 by Miri Ratner, Naftali Chayat and Melamed, who was previously VP of Intel’s architecture group, Vayyar initially developed its sensor technology to provide an alternative means of screening for early-stage breast cancer. Leveraging MIMO antennas, short for “multiple input, multiple output,” Vayyar’s products can deliver a high-resolution mapping of their surroundings by sending and receiving signals from dozens of antennas.Vayyar later expanded its “radar-on-chip” technology from healthtech to a number of other sectors, including automotive, senior care, retail, smart home and commercial property. Vayyar sells Vayyar Care, a fall detection system for monitoring people at higher risk of tripping and falling in bedrooms, bathrooms and other living spaces. In the automotive industry, Vayyar offers solutions for collision warnings, parking assistance, adaptive cruise control, seatbelt detection and automatic breaking. And in construction, Vayyar provides a handheld sensor called Walabot for detecting leaky pipes behind walls.
Vayyar competes with Entropix, Photonic Vision, Noitom Technology, Aquifi and ADI, among others, which offer their own flavors of MIMO-based sensors. But the company has long asserted that its software and algorithms set it apart from the competition. Evidently, they were impressive enough to convince Amazon to partner with Vayyar for fall detection on Alexa Together, a subscription service that remotely monitors and assists family members in their homes.
In recent years, Vayyar has entered into customer relationships with brands like Piaggio Group, which will deploy Vayyar’s sensors on some of its forthcoming motorbikes. The company also claims to have supply contracts with automakers from Japan and Vietnam as well as a joint venture agreement with Haier subsidiary HCH Ventures to leverage the latter’s “senior care technology” in China-based businesses.
Signaling ambitions in the Asia-Pacific market in particular, Vayyar noted in a press release that it engaged China International Capital Corporation Limited, a Beijing-based investment company, as its lead financial adviser for the Series E explicitly to “support investor outreach in China.” (One of Vayyar’s newer offices is in China.) Somewhat unusually, Vayyar’s Series E came just under its Seres D, which totaled $109 million. It’s unclear whether the valuation has changed — TechCrunch last reported that Vayyar was valued “north” of $600 million.
In the News: Yole Webcast, Prophesee Software Suite
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Nikon introduces the PROSTAFF P3 Binoculars
Nikon introduces the PROSTAFF P7 Binoculars
Camera Arrays for Large Scale Surveillance
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From the journal Light Science and Applications, in a paper titled "A modular hierarchical array camera" X. Yuan et al. write:
Abstract: Array cameras removed the optical limitations of a single camera and paved the way for high-performance imaging via the combination of micro-cameras and computation to fuse multiple aperture images. However, existing solutions use dense arrays of cameras that require laborious calibration and lack flexibility and practicality. Inspired by the cognition function principle of the human brain, we develop an unstructured array camera system that adopts a hierarchical modular design with multiscale hybrid cameras composing different modules. Intelligent computations are designed to collaboratively operate along both intra- and intermodule pathways. This system can adaptively allocate imagery resources to dramatically reduce the hardware cost and possesses unprecedented flexibility, robustness, and versatility. Large scenes of real-world data were acquired to perform human-centric studies for the assessment of human behaviours at the individual level and crowd behaviours at the population level requiring high-resolution long-term monitoring of dynamic wide-area scenes.
Given the potential applications shown (large scale surveillance), it is quite intriguing that the "Ethics Declaration" section of this paper is empty.
Open access link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-021-00485-x
See also: https://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2022/06/surveillance-market-and-smartsens.html
Nikon releases the MC-CF660G memory card
Sony Investor Relations Day 2022
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Review of Quanta Image Sensors for Ultralow-Light Imaging (IEEE TED June 2022)
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[As mentioned in some recent comments on this blog, the latest (vol. 69 no. 6, June 2022) issue of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices has many interesting papers related to image sensors. I will post summaries here in the coming days.]
In an invited paper in the June 2022 issue of IEEE TED, Jiaju Ma et al. write:
The quanta image sensor (QIS) is a photon counting image sensor that has been implemented using different electron devices, including impact ionization gain devices, such as the single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs), and low-capacitance, high conversion-gain devices, such as modified CMOS image sensors (CIS) with deep sub-electron read noise and/or low noise readout signal chains. This article primarily focuses on CIS QIS, but recent progress of both types is addressed. Signal processing progress, such as denoising, critical to improving apparent signal-to-noise ratio, is also reviewed as an enabling co-innovation.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9768129
Samyang 800mm f8.0 review
Special Issue: Solid State Image Sensors on IEEE TED
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My Friend Michael Guidash just informed me that the special issue for solid state image sensors on IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices in now available online.
Here is a link to the table of content: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9780655
The list of papers can be found here: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=16
Surveillance market and SmartSens
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From DigiTimes Asia news: https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20220527PD203/sensor-surveillance.html
China security surveillance market boom buoys SmartSens
The expanding security surveillance market in China continues to boost the shipments of CMOS image sensor (CIS) chips from Chinese CIS startup SmartSens Technology, which has entered the supply chains of China's first-tier security camera vendors including Hikvision Digital Technology, Uniview Technologies and Dahua Technology, according to industry sources.IDC statistics show China's security surveillance market scale reached US$16.2 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to US$20.1 billion in 2022, for a CAGR of 13.6% for the period. High-definition security camera lenses have become the tipping point of market growth, fast driving CIS sales in China, the sources said.Since launching its first CIS chip SC1035 in 2014, SmartSens has quickly built a strong presence in the security surveillance sector. Its CIS shipments topped 100 million in 2017 and grew all the way to 146 million in 2020, registering the highest global market share at 35% in the security CIS sector, according to Frost & Sullivan statistics.Over the years, SmartSens has been dedicated to developing high-performance CIS chips with higher light sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratios, as well as better low-light performance as the core requirements, while deepening deployments in AI, intelligent perception and machine vision capabilities, the industry sources noted.In terms of future security-use CIS development, its co-founder and CEO Richard Xu has said that as the surveillance lens application scenarios continue to expand, the features of low light and wide dynamic range (WDR) will be increasingly highlighted for security camera solutions so that they can penetrate higher-end applications.Since late April this year, SmartSens has kicked off a plan to list its shares on China's Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR Market), aiming to raise CNY2.82 billion to finance equipment procurement and system construction for its R&D center as well as the development of car-use CIS products, the sources said.
Growth in wafer capacity for image sensors
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From Semiconductor Digest news:
Global installed capacity for image sensors was one million 200mm-equivalent wafers per month at the end of 2021. According to the new Global Wafer Capacity 2022 report, image sensor capacity is forecast to increase 13% in 2022.
By the end of 2026, installed capacity for image sensors is projected to be 1.8 million 200mm-equiv. wafers per month. That’s an average annual growth rate of 12.5% over the forecast period, making image sensor capacity among the fastest growing segments.
While the Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted the image sensor market in 2020, growth returned in 2021. Demand for digital imaging is increasing in virtually all areas, including cellphones, automotive, machine vision, security cameras, webcams, drones, and more.
While Sony in Japan is the industry’s leading CMOS image sensor supplier, the combined CIS capacity of Samsung and SK Hynix made Korea the industry’s biggest source for production of image sensors at the end of 2021.
More than a decade ago, Sony set a goal to become the largest supplier of image sensors for cellphones. After claiming the top spot, Sony in 2014 took aim at becoming the largest supplier of CMOS image sensors for automotive systems and it is pursuing machine vision applications in factory automation and drones as well as image-recognition security cameras. Sony also sells 3D imaging sensors for depth ranging, face recognition, artificial intelligence, and machine vision.
Sony was the first to manufacture image sensors on 300mm wafers. The company has continued expanding its CIS capacity by converting 300mm fabs from logic to image sensor production and by acquiring 300mm fabs from other companies in Japan looking to exit the business of fabricating ICs. Sony has eight 300mm fab lines at four sites in Japan, with the newest being Fab 5 in Nagasaki. Fab 5 started mass production in 2021 and the construction of an expansion is already underway.
Samsung entered the CMOS image sensor business to diversify its business beyond DRAM and NAND flash. Since the fabrication technologies and tool sets for CIS devices are like that of DRAM, Samsung repurposed older DRAM fabs to begin making image sensors. The company became the industry’s second largest supplier of image sensors by serving most of the camera module needs of its huge cellphone business. Samsung’s image sensor production exists primarily at a large 300mm fab facility in Hawseong, South Korea.
SK Hynix has used the same strategy of turning older DRAM fabs into capacity for CMOS image sensors but lacks the benefit of having another related SK Hynix operation to buy its CIS devices. The company has a small but growing share of the global image sensor market.
The industry’s third largest supplier of image sensors is OmniVision but it relies on external foundries for the fabrication of its CIS wafers. OmniVision’s primary sources of foundry capacity are TSMC in Taiwan and SMIC and HLMC in China.
https://www.semiconductor-digest.com/strong-growth-in-wafer-capacity-for-image-sensors-expected/
Review article on photonics + deep learning
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