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Business Wire: "High Speed Camera Market by Usage, Component, Accessory, Application & Geography - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2014 - 2020" report estimates the global high speed camera market to grow from 4339 units in 2014 to 7312 units in 2020. The market revenue is expected to grow from $200.27M in 2014 to $274.46M in 2018 at a CAGR of 5.39%, fueled by the growing industrial applications.

Some of the major players in this market include:

• 20/20 Hindsight(Monitoring Technologies Llc)
• Aos Technologies Ag
• Del Imaging Systems, Llc
• Fastec Imaging Corporation
• Integrated Design Tools
• Mikrotron Gmbh
• Motion Capture Technologies
• Motion Engineering Company
• Nac Image Technology Inc.
• Olympus Corporation
• Optronis Gmbh
• Pco Ag
• Photron USA, Inc.
• Vision Research Inc. (Ametek Inc)
• Weiscamm

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Business Wire: Toshiba announces T4KA3, an 8MP, 1.2um BSI pixel CMOS sensor for smartphones and tablets. The 1/4-inch T4KA3 incorporates “Bright Mode” that boosts image brightness up to four times, realizing HD video capture at 240 fps equivalent for smooth slow motion playback and high speed continuous shooting. The sensor has an HDR mode and also adopts a newly developed low power circuit design that reduces power consumption to 85% that of T4K35, an 8MP sensor in mass production.

Sample shipments start now with mass production scheduled for April 2015 with volume 8M units per month.

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Omnivision's patent application US20140210028 "Color filter including clear pixel and hard mask" by Gang Chen, Duli Mao, Hsin-Chih Tai, and Howard Rhodes proposes hard mask process to improve CFA etching accuracy:

"With pixel size scaling down, design rules for color filters should follow the trend and allow the color filters to be scaled down as well, but due to specific processing features of the color filters the scaling is challenging and painful. Introducing new materials is a common approach for improving color filter scaling, but light transmission, process controllability, yield, delivery, and overall optical performance could be sacrificed."


"Clear filter 106 and color filters 108, 110 and 112 are formed on surface 103 of optional planarization layer 104. A first hard mask layer 114 and a second hard mask layer 116 are formed over clear filter 105 and color filter material 107, while only second hard mask layer 116 is formed over color filter material 109. In the illustrated embodiment no hard mask layer is formed over color filter material 111, but in other embodiments an additional clear layer can be formed over filter material 111 and second hard mask layer 116. Hard mask layers 114 and 116 are clear (i.e., substantially colorless) and optically transparent in a range of wavelengths that includes at least the wavelengths of the color filters. In the illustrated embodiment, one or both of hard mask layers 114 and 116 can be made of the same clear material as clear filter 106. In one embodiment hard mask layers 114 and 116 are oxide layers, but in other embodiments other materials can be used provided they meet optical performance and manufacturing requirements. By using oxides or other materials with good light transmission properties, the “old” low cost, mature, optimized color filter materials can extend their application to pixels of any size, the only limit being patterning resolution, which is smaller than the shortest wavelength of the visible light."

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MIT News: MIT, Microsoft and Adobe team presents SIGRAPH 2014 paper describing a way to extract sound from an object micro-vibrations in the video stream: "The Visual Microphone: Passive Recovery of Sound from Video" by Abe Davis, Michael Rubinstein, Neal Wadhwa, Gautham Mysore, Frédo Durand, and William Freeman. While similar techniques based on laser and high speed cameras has been known for a long time, the MIT team manages to get the sound using a regular 60fps DSLR video stream. A Youtube video explains their approach:



Thanks to TG for the link!

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Albert Theuwissen publishes a next post in "How to Measure MTF" series. This one talks about the improvements of slanted edge approach by means of column oversampling.

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RTT News, Business Weekly, Optics.org, Electronics Weekly: e2v is to acquire Seville, Spain-based Innovaciones Microelectronicas SL, also known as AnaFocus for up to 34.2M euros.

The initial cash purchase price of 29.2M euros is made up of 26.5M euros cash consideration for the business, and assumed net debt of 2.7M euros. The AnaFocus management team is staying with the business and can achieve an earn-out of up to 5M euros in cash, dependent on value generating 'stretch' integration targets including revenue growth. In 2013, AnaFocus had revenues of 5.6M euros and EBITA of €80,000. In the calendar year to December 31, 2014 AnaFocus is expected to generate sales of approximately €11M.

e2v technologies’ Group CEO, Steve Blair, said: "AnaFocus adds technology, people and customers to our machine vision business. It strengthens our position in the market, bringing to e2v a successful management team with deep technology capabilities and close relationships with customers that complement e2v’s relationships. The strength of the AnaFocus team, and the e2v worldwide sales and customer support channels they can now access, will help us to accelerate our opportunities in this fast-growing business. We see immediate opportunities to apply the technical capabilities of AnaFocus to provide enhanced offerings to our joint customers. I am delighted we are making this acquisition and I am pleased the AnaFocus team are joining us."

e2v expects the acquisition to complete during September 2014. AnaFocus will become an integral part of the machine vision business within e2v’s High Performance Imaging division, which grew by 26% last year. Both e2v and Anafocus use TowerJazz as their sole foundry partner for CMOS image sensors.

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RTT News, Business Weekly, Optics.org, Electronics Weekly: e2v is to acquire Seville, Spain-based Innovaciones Microelectronicas SL, also known as AnaFocus for up to 34.2M euros.

The initial cash purchase price of 29.2M euros is made up of 26.5M euros cash consideration for the business, and assumed net debt of 2.7M euros. The AnaFocus management team is staying with the business and can achieve an earn-out of up to 5M euros in cash, dependent on value generating 'stretch' integration targets including revenue growth. In 2013, AnaFocus had revenues of 5.6M euros and EBITA of €80,000. In the calendar year to December 31, 2014 AnaFocus is expected to generate sales of approximately €11M.

e2v technologies’ Group CEO, Steve Blair, said: "AnaFocus adds technology, people and customers to our machine vision business. It strengthens our position in the market, bringing to e2v a successful management team with deep technology capabilities and close relationships with customers that complement e2v’s relationships. The strength of the AnaFocus team, and the e2v worldwide sales and customer support channels they can now access, will help us to accelerate our opportunities in this fast-growing business. We see immediate opportunities to apply the technical capabilities of AnaFocus to provide enhanced offerings to our joint customers. I am delighted we are making this acquisition and I am pleased the AnaFocus team are joining us."

e2v expects the acquisition to complete during September 2014. AnaFocus will become an integral part of the machine vision business within e2v’s High Performance Imaging division, which grew by 26% last year. Both e2v and Anafocus use TowerJazz as their sole foundry partner for CMOS image sensors.

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Business Wire: Aptina has completed the purchase of CFA processing and imager probe assets from Micron. Following the purchase, Aptina will operate a fabrication facility in Nampa, Idaho that employs nearly 100 employees who will work closely with Aptina’s existing pixel optics research and development team. In addition, Aptina will hire management, development and support roles to bring its Idaho presence to approximately 250 total employees.

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Sony posts its quarterly results and reports a significant image sensor sales increase and a camera module production launch:


Sony also has updated its semiconductor business flyer, increasing FY2014 image sensor sales target to 390B yen, up from 360B yen in the previous flyer from 2 months ago. The CMOS sensor production capacity increased from 60M units per month to 75M units, and the planned capital investment in image sensors rises from 450B to 500B yen:

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Samsung patent application US20140204183 "Photographing device and photographing method for taking picture by using a plurality of microlenses" by Tae-Hee Lee, Stepan Tuliakov, Hee-chul Han proposes to move color filter in front of big microlenses in order to avoid demosaicing blur in each sub-image:

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Cambridge Mechatronics Ltd. (CML) announces that the first customer for its smart metal alloy (SMA) OIS actuators is Foxconn. In a separate announcement, CML names its manufacturing partner, Hutchinson Technology Inc. (HTI). CML and HTI have been developing OIS actuators in collaboration with Foxconn's camera division for over 18 months. Following design wins in May, smartphones with cameras built by Foxconn using SMA OIS actuators will reach the market in September this year.

In June, CML announced that it will be making its OIS actuators for 1/3" to 1/2.3" image sensors with up to 20MP resolution.

The OIS actuator is attached between the image sensor and AutoFocus actuator. The motion of the OIS actuator moves the lens relative to the image sensor, counteracting any shake measured by a gyroscope and thereby stabilizing the image. CML's OIS actuators force and motion are created by Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire - a smart material that provides huge force and strain when heated with an electric current. CML says it is able to make smaller and lower cost products than VCM manufacturers.

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University of Bonn, Germany conducts Workshop on CMOS Active Pixel Sensors for Particle Tracking (CPIX14) on Sep. 15-17, 2014. Although the workshop is fully booked, the organizers offer a live broadcast over the Internet for the presenters who agree - the world's first for an image sensor event.

The workshop's agenda:

Technology and design I

• Overview Technology Offers
  Tomasz Hemperek (Universitaet Bonn (DE))
• Design and process development of CMOS image sensors with TowerJazz
  Renato Turchetta (STFC - Rutherford Appleton Lab. (GB))
• APSEL Deep n-well and Deep p-well CMOS Sensors with ST and TowerJazz Technologies
  Gianluca Traversi (University of Bergamo)

Technology and design II

• Deep n-well CMOS Sensors with 3D Integration of Global Foundries Wafers
  Valerio Re (INFN)
• DMAPS Design in XFAB Technology
  Tetsuichi Kishishita (University of Bonn)
• Development of DMAPS Sensors in ESPROS Technology
  Miroslav Havranek (Acad. of Sciences of the Czech Rep. (CZ))

Industrial technology offerings

• ESPROS technology
  Martin Popp (Espros Photonics)
• LFoundry Technology
  Gerhard Spitzelsperger (LFoundry)
• TowerJazz Technology
  Avi Strum (TowerJazz)

CMOS sensors: industry developments

• Design detail and performance of Fully Depleted Backside Illuminated CMOS Sensors
  Stefan Lauxtermann (Sensor Creations)
• AMS High Performance CIS Modules
  Ingrid JONAK-AUER (AMS)
• Rad-hard design in CMOS [image] sensors
  Bart Dierickx (Caeleste)
• Image Sensor Design and Technology Development at Fraunhofer IMS
  Sasha WEYERS (Fraunhofer IMS)

Technology and design III

• PERCIVAL: CMOS Image Sensors for Low Energy X-Ray Detection
  Iain Sedgwick (STFC)
• AMS Designs: CLICPix/CCPD/Mu3e
  Ivan Peric (Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg (DE))
• CCPD Design: from AMS to GF technology
  M. Patrick Pangaud (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR))

Technology and design IV

• Design of CMOS Pixels Sensor for the STAR Experiment
  Christine Hu (IPHC/IN2P3)
• STAR MAPS Developments and Experiences
  Leo Greiner (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
• Alice Designs: Mistral, Astral, Alpide
  Marc Winter (Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (FR))

Electron microscopy

• CMOS pixels for electron microscopy: requirements and R&D results at TEAM
  Marco Battaglia (University of California,Santa Cruz (US))
• Radiation hard MAPS developments for electron microscopy
  Peter Denes (LBNL)
• CMOS APS for TEM
  Nicola Carlo Guerrini (STFC - RAL)

3D integration and interconnection technologies

• MAPS are for amateurs, professionals do 3D
  Grzegorz Deptuch (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))
• Advances in Bonding technologies (chip to wafer and wafer to wafer)
  Ray Yarema (FNAL)

Technology and design V

• Experience with IBM 130 nm Process for Active CMOS Pixels
  Dario Gnani (LBNL)
• Fully depleted MAPS: Pegasus and Mimosa 33
  Maciej KACHEL (IPHC)
• SLAC Developments in CMOS Sensors
  Julie Segal (SLAC)

Technology and design VI

• X-ray image sensors for SACLA and future Ultimate Storage Ring Light Sources
  Nobukazu Teranishi (University of Hyogo)
• Lapis SOI Technology and Designs
  Yasuo Arai (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (JP))

Detector characterization and performance I

• Characterization of CCPDV3 HV-CMOS sensors capacitively coupled to CLICpix 65 nm CMOS readout ASICs
  Mathieu Benoit (CERN LCD)
• CMOS MAPS in Planar and 3D Technologies: TID Effects and Bulk Damage Study
  Lodovico Ratti (University of Pavia)
• Radiation Hardness of the Tower/Jazz 0.18 µm Imaging CMOS Process
  Michael Deveaux (Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Univ. (DE))

Detector characterization and performance II

• Design and Characterization of a High-Speed Multi-frame Hybrid CMOS Sensor
  John Porter (Sandia National Laboratories)
• ESPROS DMAPS: Results and Radiation Hardness
  Theresa Obermann (Universitaet Bonn (DE))

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Reuters: Mobileye's NYSE IPO on Aug. 1st values the vision-based ADAS company at about $5.31 billion, higher than planned. The company estimates that its products were installed in about 3.3M vehicles worldwide as of March 31, including BMW, Honda and Tesla Motors. By the end of 2014, it expects its technology to be available in 160 car models from 18 original equipment manufacturers worldwide.

Here is BMW TV story:



Update: The valuation has jumped to $7.86B in the first day of trade.

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The Confab Conference held in June 2014 has few mentions about imaging. Subramani Kengeri, Global Foundry VP of Advanced Technology Architecture names 10 most important emerging applications, among them there are 5 imaging ones:


Novati presentation by its CEO David Anderson shows the company's BSI capability:

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Marketwired: Movidius announces Myriad 2, the next generation of its vision processor unit (VPU) SoC. Compared to Myriad 1—which was introduced as part of Google’s Project Tango—the new chipset delivers 20x more processing efficiency in terms of computations per watt of power consumed. Myriad 2 comprises a larger and upgraded set of programmable processors as well as a new set of dedicated and configurable image and vision accelerators to power the next wave of computational cameras.

Its key features:

• Superior performance at ultra-low power: Myriad 2, implemented in TSMC 28HPM process, is capable of performance exceeding two trillion 16-bit operations per second while consuming an average of less than 500mW. It supports up to six full HD 60fps camera inputs simultaneously via 12 1.5Gbps MIPI lanes.
• Programmability: Myriad 2 is equipped with 12 programmable vision-specific vector processors to enable rapid innovation and to enable device manufacturers to differentiate using their proprietary software.
• Low latency processing: Given its highly parallelized data processing architecture and its new and highly efficient on-chip memory fabric, Myriad 2 can achieve high-performance processing with notably low latency. As an example, for the standard vision processing benchmark known as the Haar Cascade classification, Myriad 2 can calculate 50,000 multi-scale classifications per high-definition (HD) video frame in a mere seven milliseconds.
• Flexible usage for different applications: Myriad 2 operates either as a co-processor to the main application processor in a vision-enabled mobile device, or as a standalone processor in wearable or embedded applications.

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TI presents a reference design of structured light 3D camera based on its DLP projector:

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Image Sensors Americas 2014 web site publishes an interview with Terry Gilton, Aptina VP of Advanced Technology. Few quotes:

Q: What are the major growth areas in the image sensor business in 2014/5?
A: Along with general market growth in the volume segments, there is a trend towards physically larger sensors to improve all around performance. While the pixel-count war is not dead, the top mobile OEMS have seen the light. Smaller pixels matter, but are being seen as enablers for unique features rather than just a way to use more power and memory, while larger pixels are getting the credit they deserve for image quality.

Q: Which advanced technologies do you think will have the greatest impact on the supply chain in the coming years?
A: Stacking of pure pixel arrays onto ASICS is going to be a very important change to the supply chain. Packaging of image sensors into camera modules is in an innovation phase now. Things like curved sensors will have an interesting impact on optical design, and could enable some changes in the module that will allow new technologies to flourish. Multi-chip solutions are going to become more popular, and advances in heat management are going to drive camera performance.

With pixel shrinks and the demand for greater performance, I believe that pixel level optics (color filters, micro lenses and pixel-scale light path engineering) is changing quickly. It used to be just spinning on some organics, but it is now much more complex and essential to the sensor's overall performance.

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ISORG published its presentation at Printed Electronics Show held in April 2014 in Berlin, Germany. Few slides talking about the company's plans and vision:

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EETimes: Amazon Fire Phone teardown confirms that Omnivision image sensors used for the "Dynamic Perspective" feature. Other than the sensors, the phone also integrates OV680 ISP. All cameras combined amount to more than 10% of the phone's cost:

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Albert Theuwissen announces that as the 1st session of 2014 Solid State Imaging Forum is almost sold out, the 2nd session registration opens. The 2nd session is scheduled for Dec. 15-16, 2014, same location.

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Pelican Imaging publishes an on-line 3D viewer of the real pictures taken by its array camera. Users can change the amount of the blur based on the object distance and can see either a processed 2D picture or a depth map:

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Delft University publishes MSc thesis "The Design of a Stitched, High-dynamic Range CMOS Particle Sensor" by Jiaqi Zhu. The thesis presents a cooperative work with Caeleste. The DR extension is achieved by a dual-gain 6.5um pixel:


The sensor resolution is up to 150MP (12288 x 12288 pixel). No silicon results yet, but the tapeout was scheduled for May 2014.

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Sony Alpha Rumors quotes Chinese cnBeta site with specs of the first Sony curved image sensor - a 22MP 2/3-inch IMX271SMK and based on it camera module. One of the interesting features of the rumored sensor is rectangular pixels - "Oversampling (2-in-1 Logic physical pixel pixel, without guessing color)":


DPReview quotes another rumor from Chinese website saying that the next generation Sony Xperia Z3X smartphone is to feature the IMX271SMK curved sensor and is scheduled to appear on the market sometime in 2015. The camera phone lens is unusually bright at F1.2.

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Sony plans to invest 35 billion yen in its Nagasaki Technology Center ("Nagasaki TEC") and Kumamoto Technology Center ("Kumamoto TEC") from the H2 of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 (FY14) through the H1 of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016 (FY15), to increase its production capacity for stacked image sensors. The investment is intended to reinforce Nagasaki TEC's "layering process" production capabilities, as well as Kumamoto TEC's "mastering process" facilities. "The layering process refers to the layering semiconductor chips containing back-illuminated structure pixels with semiconductor chips containing the circuit for signal processing. The mastering process refers to the manufacture of photodiodes and wiring processes for stacked CMOS image sensors."

On January 29, 2014, Sony announced its plans to establish and invest in Yamagata TEC as a facility mainly conducting the mastering process. The current investment is expected to enable Sony to complete subsequent stages of production, including the layering process, at Nagasaki TEC on semiconductor chips that have undergone the mastering process at Yamagata TEC, providing Sony with a fully integrated production system for stacked CMOS image sensors. This investment is a part of Sony's mid - to long-term plan to increase its total production capacity for image sensors to approximately 75,000 12-inch wafers per month, and is expected to increase the current capacity of approximately 60,000 wafers per month to approximately 68,000 wafers per month by August 2015.

Over FY14, Sony is going to invest approximately 9 billion yen (Nagasaki TEC: 3 billion, Kumamoto TEC: 6 billion). Approximately 26 billion yen is to be invested in FY15 (Nagasaki TEC).

Nagasaki Technology Center (left) and Kumamoto Technology Center (right)

Thanks to DG for the news.

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Reuters, Globes: Mobileye, a maker of vision & camera-based ADAS systems starts the roadshow for NYSE IPO of $500M at $3.8B valuation. Mobileye's revenue was $81.2M in 2013. Such a high valuation (for a hardware company) reflects the market expectations for a wide adoption of automotive vision systems.

A Youtube video shows one of the Mobileye features in action:

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Marketwired: FLIR announces that the FLIR ONE thermal imaging accessory for smartphones will be available on July 23 for pre-order online at FLIR.com/FLIRONE. The award-winning FLIR ONE transforms an iPhone 5 or 5s into a thermal imager. When paired with its iPhone app, FLIR ONE displays live infrared imagery that allows the user to see the world from a thermal perspective. FLIR ONE will also be available to buy in Apple Stores and on Apple.com in August.

A Youtube commercial explains why average consumer needs thermal camera:



Thanks to SF for the news.

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Spectronet publishes Teledyne-DALSA presentation "CMOS Today & Tomorrow." Few slides from the presentation:

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Maybank's Largan report predicts that dual cameras with depth perception will appear in 10% of Chinese smartphones in 2015:

"we assume Largan will continue to outgrow the smartphone industry driven by more dual/multi-camera devices. We think dual cameras can not only support 3D applications but also decrease response time, and have better depth-sensing & low light performance without increasing thickness. We estimate 10% of Chinese smartphones will bundle dual cameras in FY15 which should help Largan extend its global No.1 position and help the company to increase its ASP due to requirements for more precise technology."

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In March 2014, Toshiba quietly published a web page for T4K46, a 1/2.3-inch 20MP image sensor aimed to smartphone camera market. The sensor is based on 1.2um BSI pixels. Its RAW10 frame rate is 12fps at full resolution, and 60fps in 1080p video mode. The sensor's ADC supports up to 12b resolution.

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TowerJazz Q2'14 Newsletter publishes a message from Avi Strum, VP and GM of CMOS Image Sensors Business Unit, and VP of Sales for Europe. He has served as the head of the CIS BU since its inception in 2005. Few quotes:

"Although we served this very demanding and competitive market segment in the early days up until 2008, we took a calculated decision to concentrate in the high end market segments including: photography (mainly broadcasting and cinematography), large X-ray sensors for dental and medical applications, industrial high speed global shutter sensors, 3D gesture control and automotive and security sensors."

"...the high volume products that require 65nm technology will go to TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Company while the products that require high flexibility and customization will go to TowerJazz. Both companies can also enjoy the 110nm CIS technology of Panasonic that will be transferred to Israel and thus, provide our customers dual source for their products."

"...in the X-ray sensor market, due to our patented stitching technology, we have become the largest source for such sensors and our customers dominate around 70% of the worldwide market share in the intra oral dental sensor market."

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