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Himax Q1 2014 earnings report updates on its image sensor business: "Our CMOS image sensors delivered a strong sales growth in Q1, up close to 30% sequentially. Our existing 2 and 5 megapixel CMOS image sensors are producing good sales from select international brands and Chinese white-box customers. However, as noted in the last earnings call, the current shipments comprise mainly of older generation products which are of higher costs. The sales of these products, given their rather significant amount by now, is the key reason why our overall corporate gross margin in the second quarter looks to stay flat or even go slightly down. Without it, our overall gross margin for the quarter would have continued to expand. Maintaining sales of such older generation products is necessary while we are going through design-in process with our customers to replace these products with new designs with much improved gross margins. The new generation products are expected to start shipments in the third quarter.

We expect our 8 megapixel sensors to start shipments later this year, which we believe will contribute to significant sales growth and better gross margin in the second half of the year. Additionally, following multi-year design efforts, we now have a competitive CMOS image sensor product line for automotive and surveillance markets, both large, lucrative and fast-growing markets. This is a market segment with a high barrier of entry where special know-how is required. Collectively, we expect the CMOS image sensor business to more than double in 2014."

Himax factsheet says that the company starts to mass produce optics for array cameras in Q2 2014:

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Optics.org: Polaris Sensor Technologies claims that polarized thermal imaging can offer so much more. David Chenault, the company president, says that their thermal camera with sensitivity to the light polarization, eTherm, is better at seeing at night, better at spotting a potential intruder behind a bush, or to see camouflaged targets. An extra advantage, is that it does not require temperature differences to create an image. "We can form the image from the material itself, from its texture and shape," says Chenault.

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Sony announces 8MP 1/4-inch IMX219PQ CMOS sensor based on 1.12um BSI pixels. The main improvement over its predecessor IMX111PQ is 2x speed, allowing 1080p60 video in 2x2 binning mode:


Sony also launches ICX834ALG (black-and-white) and ICX834AQG (color) 1-inch CCDs with 12.06M resolution. The new CCDs employ the 3.1um EXview HAD CCD II pixel, meaning that they offer a high sensitivity in NIR region. With 4 parallel outputs, the CCDs can achieve 14.5fps speed.

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Pixart announces its Q1 2014 report. The revenue slightly decreased by 0.1% QoQ to NT$1,198.5M (39.8M USD). Due to favorable change in product mix and the depreciation of NTD, 2014Q1 gross margin was improved to 44.7% from 42.9% in Q4 2013. The operating margin increased to 7.3% from 5.9% in previous quarter. The net income for Q1 2014 was NT$91.8M (3.05M USD). The proportion of optical mouse sensors in the product mix grew to 90%:

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Omnivision's patent application US20140117485 "Negatively charged layer to reduce image memory effect" by Howard Rhodes, Dajiang Yang, Gang Chen, Duli Mao, and Vincent Venezia talks about rarely mentioned but commonly observed ghost image effects: "The electrical signature of an image with high brightness levels that falls onto a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor may remain embedded in subsequently read out electrical signatures of subsequently acquired images. The electrical signature of a previously sensed image remaining in the image sensor has been called a “ghost artifact” or a “memory effect.” This unwanted effect can be exacerbated by repeated exposure of static images, especially high intensity or bright images, to the image sensor. The retention of ghost images represents noise that obscures subsequently acquired images and reduces the signal to noise ratio and may cause blur if there is movement being imaged.

The memory effect problem has been found to be especially present in CMOS image sensors that have been fabricated using advanced fabrication technologies, particularly those employing measures to maximize metal interconnect density. For instance, those fabrication technologies employing so-called “borderless contacts” have been found to be associated with the root cause of this problem."

Omnivision explains: "The deposition of the contact etch stop layer is a fabrication technique that may be utilized when providing borderless contacts, which may be employed to increase metal interconnect density in pixel array."

Contact etch stop layer 322 is deposited over passivation layer 320, which is deposited over the pinning surface layers 313 included in example pixel array 302

"In one example, contact etch stop layer 322 may include a silicon nitride based dielectric including for example, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, or the like... The mobile charges in the PECVD silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride of contact etch stop layer 322 can be moved by electrical forces such as electrical fields placed across contact etch stop layer 322, which can cause unwanted effects in nearby semiconductor regions, such as photodiode regions 312 and/or the pixel circuitry included in the pixels of pixel array 302. For example, the source to drain resistance of a transistor included in the pixel circuitry included in the pixels of pixel array 302 may be affected by the mobile charge in the overlying PECVD silicon nitride of contact etch stop layer 322 by altering the depletion characteristics of an underlying lightly doped source or drain region.

Furthermore, it is noted that net positive charges can be induced directly in the PECVD silicon nitride and/or silicon oxynitride of contact etch stop layer 322 by exposure to visible light that may pass through contact etch stop layer 322, especially when photodiode regions 312 of pixel array 302 are illuminated with bright light when imaging. In particular, the energy associated with the phonon modes of the Si—Si and Si—H crystal structures may participate in the optical excitation of the electrical carriers. Consequently, memory effect is caused by the generation of positive charges in, for example, the SiON film of contact etch stop layer 322 that overlies the photodiode region 312 under the strong light illumination."

"To illustrate, FIG. 3A shows light 315 illuminating photodiode region 312, which therefore illuminates and passes through contact etch stop layer 322 as shown. This may occur when photodiode region is capturing an image. As a result of this illumination with light 315, positive charge 317 is induced in contact etch stop layer 322, which induces electrons 319 at the surface of the photodiode region 312 surface as shown.

FIG. 3B shows that after light 315 is no longer present and photodiode region 312 images a darker scene or is in a low light condition after having been illuminated with bright light 315 and after the image has been captured, the induced electrons 319 at the surface of the photodiode region 312 are injected into the photodiode region 312, causing the unwanted memory effect. In other words, when the pixel including photodiode region 312 images a darker scene, the induced electrons 319 at the surface of the photodiode region 312 that were a result of the previously captured image are injected into photodiode region 312, which generates localized dark current causing an unwanted “ghost image” of the previously captured image to appear as a memory effect in pixel array 302."

A nice explanation of the positive after-image. Indeed, many CMOS sensors have it positive. In some sensors the after-image is negative though - probably a different effect.

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Microsoft Research publishes "Epsilon: A Visible Light Based Positioning System" presentation by Liqun Li, Pan Hu, Chunyi Peng, Guobin (Jacky) Shen, and Feng Zhao proposing to use LED lighting to create an indoor GPS-like system:

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Teledyne DALSA unveiles Possibility Hub - a content engine for sharing stories and knowledge about imaging technology and its ability to empower human achievement. Continued advances in digital image sensor technology and data processing are driving new and ever more ambitious applications for imaging technology. The Possibility Hub will spotlight these innovations not only in traditional industrial applications, but in the physical and health sciences, arts and entertainment, as well as oceanographic, geographic, and interplanetary exploration.

One of the articles on the Hub "Five CMOS Camera Developments to Watch in 2014" by Eric Fox. The developments are:

• CMOS Sensors Will Go Big. Real Big. (in resolution and size)
• CCD + CMOS: The Best of Both Worlds? (TDI implemented in CMOS)
• Accelerating Speeds and Feeds
• Better Low-Light Performance
• More Will Be Happening On-Camera (HDR, ROI, various corrections)

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PR Newswire: OmniVision announces OV5670, the 5MP, 1/5-inch 1.12um PureCel image sensor for both front- and rear-facing cameras in smartphones and tablets. "The OV5670 is uniquely positioned in that it brings tremendous value and performance to camera applications on both sides of a mobile device. Its compact form factor and small optical format allow manufacturers to easily upgrade camera resolutions from 2-megapixel to 5-megapixel for main cameras in feature phones, and for front- and rear-facing cameras in smartphones and tablets," said Archie de Guzman, senior product marketing manager at OmniVision. "The popularity of mobile software applications focusing on video-conferencing has fueled consumer demand for higher-resolution front-facing camera solutions that also meet the space constraints of today's mobile devices. OV5670 provides an ideal solution."

The OV5670 PureCel image sensor capture full resolution 5MP images at 30fps, quad HD video at 30fps, cropped 1080p HD at 60fps, or 720p HD at 60fps. When recording 720p HD video with binning, the sensor achieves sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio that is comparable to popular 1.75um pixel-based sensors. Additionally, the sensor's 1.12um pixel achieves similar full-well capacity as OmniVision's previous generation 1.4um pixel.

When the OV5670 is recording full resolution video, it uses approximately 35 percent less power than OmniVision's previous generation 5MP sensor. The sensor's ultra low power mode further reduces power consumption, thus minimizing battery drain. The OV5670 fits into 6 x 6 x 3.5 mm camera module. It is currently in volume production.

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Business Wire: ON Semiconductor announces the availability of new qualified IP on its proprietary ONC18 180nm process. The new IP blocks were developed by various external vendors including Senseeker Engineering Inc., and range from small-pitch column-parallel ADC and cryogenic-compatible LVDS drivers to very-small footprint OTP memory:

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Intellectual Ventures reports that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware rendered a verdict finding two Intellectual Ventures’ (IV) image sensor patents valid and infringed by digital camera products of Canon Inc. and Canon USA. Law360.com adds that "the jury held that Canon’s EOS 1DS Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II and Vixia Camcorders infringe at least one claim of U.S. Patent Number 6,023,081, which Canon failed to invalidate for obviousness."

The US 6,023,081 patent "Semiconductor image sensor" by Clifford Drowley, Jennifer Patterson, Shrinath Ramaswami, and Mark Swenson was originally filed by Motorola in 1997 and granted in 2000.

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Omnivision's patent application US20140103189 "Compact In-Pixel High Dynamic Range Imaging" by Gang Chen, Duli Mao, Hsin-Chih Tai, and Howard Rhodes proposes quite a minor modification in 4T pixel which dynamically changes its conversion gain based on the signal level. The proposal is to add few Vth-adjust implants under the RST gate, so that various gate areas go to inversion mode depending on the floating diffusion voltage:

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Teledyne DALSA announces that its CEO, Brian Doody, has decided to retire from the company to pursue other personal and family activities. Brian started with DALSA as its fourth employee in 1985 and rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2007.

Upon Brian's retirement, Rex Geveden, EVP Digital Imaging and Engineered Systems Segments, Teledyne Technologies Inc., will relocate to the Waterloo area and assume responsibility for the Teledyne DALSA business, as well as maintain his other segment responsibilities within Teledyne.

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PMD posted a Youtube video demoing its CamBoard pico XS in direct sunlight. "The tiny CamBoard pico XS can perform in direct sunlight -- no matter if the sun is shining directly into the lens or fully illuminating the scene. Due to the patented SBI circuitry (suppression of background illumination) pmd Time-of-Flight chips, and respectively pmd-based 3D camera systems, are very robust against ambient light."

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Woodside Capital Partners publishes a 85-page-big report on embedded camera market "Embedded Camera Status: At The Edge of Depth", dated by Apr. 2014. The report essentially says that integration of the depth information into the cameras is the next big step in imaging: "The industry has acquired a thirst for depth detection in the cameras, and the generation of a point cloud of a scene, this has the potential to increase volumes shipped by nearly 2X by the latter part of this decade."

Few interesting graphs form the report:


The automotive camera section talks about the slow product launch cycle and market entry barriers:


Thanks to DM for the link!

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On Semi announces the completion of its acquisition of Truesense Imaging. ON Semi paid approximately $95M in cash off its balance sheet, after adjustments for cash and working capital amounts, to purchase Truesense Imaging. Based on audited results, Truesense Imaging’s revenue for 2013 was approximately $79 million with gross and operating margins of approximately 44% and 23%, respectively.
Chris McNiffe, CEO and president of Truesense, has been retained by the ON Semiconductor team to help manage and grow our image sensor business. The Truesense product development and business teams will be incorporated in ON Semi’s Application Products Group (APG) as part of the company’s Image Sensor Business Unit, reporting to Vince Hopkin, VP of ON Semiconductor’s MDFI Division. The Truesense’s factory operations will report up through ON Semiconductor’s corporate manufacturing organization.

The former Truesense Imaging owner, Platinum Equity too announces the completion of the deal. "We are proud of this investment and of all the hard work that went into making it successful," said Platinum Equity’s Jason Leach, who led the initial Truesense acquisition from Kodak. "The business is fundamentally strong and is well positioned to succeed under new ownership."

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Embedded.com publishes an article "Mobile photography's developing image" by Michael McDonald, saying that resolution is not a differentiation factor anymore. Instead, the future camera phones will have computational photography features, such as HDR, super-resolution, 3D, imaging and more.

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Polytec, ESPROS Photonics' distributor of ToF cameras, has published a Youtube video showing the epc6xx 8x8 pixel camera in action:

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Marketwired: Teledyne DALSA introduces the first in its new Rad-icon series of CMOS X-Ray cameras. The Rad-icon 1520 detector features 1548 x 2064 pixel resolution, an active area of 15.3 x 20.4 cm, and 99um pixel size and delivers real-time frame rates of up to 30 fps. "The Rad-icon digital x-ray cameras deliver a unique combination of speed, resolution and connectivity," commented Thorsten Achterkirchen, VP X-Ray Imaging for Teledyne DALSA. "The 1520 is only the beginning of what we are promoting as a cost-effective and flexible platform for high performance digital x-ray imaging for non-destructive testing."

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PR Newswire: Dual Aperture keeps announcing its partners. Recently, it has announced its image sensor partner (Hynix/SiliconFile) and DSP partner (eWBM). Now the company says that it cooperates with Ability Enterprise on camera design. Ability Enterprise and Dual Aperture partner together on a technology licensing agreement whereby Ability Enterprise will incorporate Dual Aperture's 4-color sensor technology, image processing algorithms and various application software, into their latest line of camera module products.

Dual Aperture's technology utilizes a proprietary 4-color sensor design comprised of RGB and IR pixels. Built with separate apertures for the RGB and IR pixels, the sensor is able to generate two distinct images, one in the RGB spectrum and the other in the IR, with a single capture. This allows to estimate a depth of the image, as explained in a Youtube video:

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EETimes, Venture Beat: Aquifi, founded by a few ex-Canesta engineers, announce Fluid Experience - software only gesture recognition based on a regular HD-resolution webcam, machine learning algorithms and cloud services. The cloud part accumulates the different users experience with the gesture tracking and processes it to improve the accuracy over time.

"If Kinect was the first generation, we’re building the second generation," said Nazim Kareemi, Aquifi CEO. "In the past, you had to adapt to the machine. We want it to adapt to you." The Palo Alto, Calif.-based Aquifi has raised $9M from Benchmark Capital, and private investors including Mike Farmwald, cofounder of Rambus. Aquifi was founded in 2011, and it has 29 employees. A Youtube video presents the company and its technology:

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EETimes publishes a popular article "Sensors Beyond Megapixels" by Junko Yoshida on image sensor applications beyond the mainstream consumer ones. No revelations there, the article just briefly talks about automotive, food sorting, dental, and few other applications.

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Panasonic announces that its ToF Image Sensor D-IMager will be discontinued at the end of December 2014. Thanks to MR for the link!

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VLSI Symposia tipsheet publishes a re-phrased version of Sony curved image sensor paper abstract accompanied by a figure:

"Curved CMOS Image System: When light transmitted by a lens strikes a perpendicular target such as a CMOS image sensor, it forms a circle of light called an image circle. It’s difficult for a flat (planar) CMOS image sensor to deliver high image sensitivity at high resolution (highly scaled pixel pitch) because of the fundamental physical limit known as quantum efficiency. To break through that physical limit and to achieve higher sensitivity anywhere within the image circle at higher resolution, Sony built and will describe an imaging system that comprises a hemispherically curved, back-illuminated CMOS image sensor (BIS) and integrated lens. It doubles the sensitivity at the edge of the image circle while increasing sensitivity at its center by a factor of 1.4, with a 5x reduction of dark current (Jd) compared to a planar BIS. Moreover, a common problem known as lens field curvature aberration (Afc) is mitigated by the curved sensor itself, and so the curved BIS enables higher system sensitivity with a brighter lens with a smaller F number (Fn) than is possible with a planar BIS. In addition, by controlling the tensile stress of the BIS chip to produce a curved shape in the first place, the energy band-gap (Eg) is widened and a lower Jd is achieved. (Paper T2.1, “A Novel Curved CMOS Image Sensor Integrated with Imaging System,” K. Itonaga et al., Sony)"

Concept of an imaging system which integrates a curved sensor with a brighter (lower F number) lens for better image sensitivity.

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Sony presents 13MP IMX214 sensor, already featuring in Oppo Find 7 and OnePlus One smartphones. The 1/4-inch 1.12um pixel IMX214 is said to be "the industry's first 13M-Pixel CMOS image sensor enabling HDR output at 30 frame/s." The new sensor utilizes SME-HDR (Spatially Multiplexed Exposure HDR) technology. It sets two different exposures in a single frame and performs image processing to generate HDR images. A reduced backside optical stack helps to improve the color crosstalk and angular sensitivity over the 1st generation stacked sensor IMX135:

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Forza Silicon introduces the Forza 100+ MP CAM Platform featuring a customizable CMOS image sensor operating at 60fps and supporting multiple camera resolutions­. The dual-mode camera operates in B&W or color and has a proprietary onboard image processor. It can be configured to capture image sequences at resolutions approaching 200MP while maintaining 60fps speed. The modular platform includes a high resolution, visible CMOS image sensor module and camera reference design that can be customized to allow for fast integration into multiple camera hardware designs and applications.

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Brandywine Photonics got first images from its FBX-640×512 BSI CMOS sensor with deep depletion, specifically designed for hyperspectral imaging with enhanced NIR sensitivity. The QE, dark noise, and frame rate numbers will be reported later. The sensor was first announced in May 2013 as being in the fab.

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Marketwired: InVisage announces $18M round of funding bringing the total amount that it has raised since its creation to more than $100M. Investors include GGV Capital, Nokia Growth Partners, RockPort Capital, InterWest Partners, Intel Capital and OnPoint Technologies. The additional funding enables InVisage to scale manufacturing capacity from its initial pilot production line to support high volume customers and further its mission to mass produce fast, thin, high performance cameras in ultra-small form-factors.

InVisage also expands its leadership team with two new additions: Ephraim Kwok as CFO and Emanuele Mandelli as VP of Engineering. Mandelli has more than 20 years of image sensor, x-ray detectors and particle physics detectors experience. Most recently, he worked for AltaSens.

Venture Beat quotes Invisage CEO, Jess Lee telling that "the company expects to deliver its final product samples to manufacturing partners within the next few quarters, and it will take another six to nine months before the technology can be implemented in future products".

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Lytro announces its second generation lightfield camera having DSLR look and featuring a new, custom-designed 40 Megaray image sensor (vs 11 Megaray in the 1st generation). As with the 1st Lytro generation, the number of pixels in the final image has not been disclosed.

Lytro Illum sensor

Venture Beat publishes a video interview with Lytro Founder Ren Ng explaining the features of the new camera:



DPReview publishes a Q&A session with Lytro CEO Jason Rosenthal and Ren Ng. Few quotes:

Q: "What's new about the sensor? It's listed at 40 megarays, but how would you explain that in terms that are more relatable to stills photographers?"

Rosenthal: "It's basically a 4x step up in terms of both number of pixels and underlying resolution, as well as sensor area size ... The sensor in the previous camera was 1/3", essentially a mobile sensor. This is a 1" sensor with an [underlying] 40-megapixel resolution."

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Aptina reports that ZTE Star 1 smartphone features the company's Clarity+ color filter technology.

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Sony has updated its pages on Effio and Xarina ISPs for security and surveillance cameras. The high-end Xarina line is going to be split into 2K and 4K ones with added support for RGB-W CFA and few other features:

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