Archives for May 2015

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ST has held a 2015 Analyst Day today. The company says it's exploring options to cut losses at its Digital Product Group (DPG), a division that makes image sensors among other products. "This problem needs to be fixed and we will fix it," says CEO Carlo Bozotti (SeekingAlpha).

Meanwhile, DPG presentation says that ST imaging business is focusing on specialized image sensors and proximity sensors, while winding down commodity imaging products:


In spite of the option explorations, the manufacturing presentation talks about imaging and the 3D roadmap:

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Pixart reports Q1 2015 results:

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PR Newswire: ZHANGJIAGANG, Jiangsu, China-based MultiDimension Technology (MDT), a supplier of Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors, announces the MIS63xx TMR magnetic image sensors. They are said to be the world’s first TMR magnetic sensors for magnetic image scanning with high-resolution in 50DPI. They are designed for financial anti-counterfeit appliances in banknote sorters, ATM, and vending machines. They are also ideally suited for high-resolution magnetic image scanning in non-destructive testing applications.

MDT supplies TMR magnetic sensor wafers or bare dice.

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Taiwan LIPS-HCI startup posts one more Youtube demo of its ToF camera module. The video has a spec of its camera:



Other than ToF, LIPS-HCI also publishes demos of its RGB-IR and 2x2 array camera modules that generate 3D depth maps.

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Sony annual report for its FY2014, ended on March 31, 2015, states that its image sensor capex will reach 210 billion Yen in FY2015, about 4.8 times higher than in FY2014:


The same data is included in its updated Semiconductor business flyer, dated by April 30, 2015:

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PRWeb: Anitoa Systems, a Palo Alto startup established in 2011, partnering with Zhejiang University of China, has demonstrated a handheld real time quantitative-polymerase-chain-reaction system (qPCR) using Anitoa's ultra-low-light CMOS bio-optical sensor. Anitoa’s ULS24 ultra-low light CMOS bio-optical sensor is said to be the first commercially available CMOS sensor that has the needed sensitivity to replace photon multiplier tubes and cooled-CCDs in a wide range of medical and scientific instruments. The ultra-low light sensitivity (3e-6 lux) of Anitoa’s CMOS sensor is crucial for achieving good SNR in imaging molecular interactions based on fluorescent or chemiluminescence signaling principle. “We are very pleased to see the test results coming back from partner hospital showing the effectiveness of detecting infectious pathogens. This not only validates the CMOS bio-optical sensor’s ultra-low-light sensitivity, but also its applicability to real world disease diagnostics”, said Anitoa CEO Zhimin Ding.

ULS24 is built on 0.18um CMOS process at "a world-leader specialty semiconductor foundry."

Anitoa’s Intelligent Dark-current Management architecture. It starts with high responsivity photodiodes. The readout circuit performs multimodal sensing to capture signal and noise information, the A/D and digital signal processor is said to take advantage of the multi-modal information to achieve better noise cancellation.

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2015 International Image Sensor Workshop (IISW) to be held on June 8-11, 2015 in Vaals, The Netherlands, publishes its program. There is quite a lot of interesting papers. Just to name a few of the broader public interest:

Sony and Canon present image sensor with phase detection autofocus in ALL pixels:

A Low Noise and High Sensitivity Image Sensor with Imaging and Phase-Difference Detection AF in All Pixels
M.Kobayashi, M.Johnson, Y.Wada, H.Tsuboi, J.Iwata, T.Ono, H.Takada, K.Togo, Y.Arishima, T.Kishi, A.Okita, H.Takahashi, T.Ichikawa
Canon Inc., Japan

A 4M pixel full-PDAF CMOS image sensor with 1.58μm 2X1 On-Chip Micro-Split-Lens technology
Sozo Yokogawa, Isao Hirota, Isao Ohdaira, Masao Matsumura, Atsushi Morimitsu, Hiroaki Takahashi, Toshio Yamazaki, Hideki Oyaizu, Yalcin Incesu, Muhammad Atif, Yoshikazu Nitta
Sony Japan and Germany

Omnivision, Sony and Olympus present the updates on their latest stacked sensor work:

Stack Chip Technology: A New Direction for CMOS Imagers
V.C. Venezia, H. Rhodes, C. Shih, W.Z. Yang, and B. Zhang
OmniVision, USA

A 3D stacked CMOS image sensor with 16Mpixel global-shutter mode using 4 million interconnections
Toru Kondo, Yoshiaki Takemoto, Kenji Kobayashi, Mitsuhiro Tsukimura, Naohiro Takazawa, Hideki Kato, Shunsuke Suzuki, Jun Aoki, Haruhisa Saito, Yuichi Gomi, Seisuke Matsuda and Yoshitaka Tadaki
Olympus Corp., Japan

A 1/1.7-inch 20Mpixel Back-illuminated Stacked CMOS Image Sensor with parallel multiple sampling
Hayato Wakabayashi, Atsushi Suzuki, Nobutaka Shimamura, Toshiki Kainuma, Kensuke Koiso, Atsushi Masagaki, Yoichi Yagasaki, Shigeru Gonoi, Masatoshi Mizuno, Tatsuya Sugioka, Takafumi Morikawa, Yoshiaki Inada
Sony, Japan

Qualcomm and TSMC present new CFA ideas:

New Color Filter Patterns and Demosaic for Sub-micron Pixel Arrays
Biay-Cheng Hseih, Hasib Siddiqui, Todor Gerogiev, Kalin Atanassov, Sergio Goma, and
HY Cheng, JJ Sze, HY Chou, Calvin Chao, SG Wuu
Qualcomm Inc., USA
TSMC, Taiwan

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Basler publishes a number of image sensors and camera tutorials under the name of "Vision Campus." One of them talks about CMOS sensors superiority over CCDs:

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Invisage launches an updated web site featuring a new Technology page:

Invisage sensor cross-section. Note, there is no microlens.

The technology page also introduces Dynamic Zoom feature - a sort of binning in continuous photoconductive film. Nice idea. I hope they find a way to combine it with CFA:

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Imatest publishes a Youtube video promoting its Image Sensor Edition testing environment:

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Vision Systems Design publishes an interview with Arnaud Darmont, the founder of Aphesa, on the industrial and machine vision market trends. Few quotes:

Q: In which areas or applications do you see the most growth?

A: There are more and more requests for very high-resolution cameras, although most of customers still require low resolution cameras in the range of 1 to 5 MPixels.

Q: Is there a particular trend or product in the next few years that you see as “the next big thing?”

A: If I knew what the next big thing would be then I would invest in it today. We have seen several recent significant breakthroughs in 3D imaging and in HDR imaging, but who knows what will be coming next.

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Albert Theuwissen, the host of Harvest Imaging Forum "3D Imaging with Time-of-Flight: Solid-State Devices, Circuits and Architectures" to be held in Dec. 2015, in Voorburg (the Hague), the Netherlands, announces the speaker's name on the forum: David Stoppa, FBK, Italy. Recently, David has worked on SPAD-based imagers for ToF and other applications, while his earlier works cover other image sensing technologies.

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GSM Dome quotes Chinese market analysts saying that a lot of Sony image sensor production capacity has been allocated for Apple iPhone 6c, supposed to be launched in September. Due to that, smartphone companies in China are unable to get enough Sony image sensors for their products. Huawei is said to manage to ship just 50% of its devices with Sony sensors, while ZTE, Oppo and Coolpad are able to get just 10-30% smartphones on the market with a Sony camera module.

As a result, these companies are forced to go to Samsung, Toshiba or Omnivision to complement their supply of image sensors. It is speculated that HTC has chosen Toshiba sensors for its HTC One M8 for that reason as well.

Update: Digitimes sources in Taiwan generally confirm the story. Sony gives priority supply to Apple and Samsung. Supplies of Sony's CMOS image sensors are at least 30% short of demand for China's smartphone vendors including Xiaomi, Huawei, Coolpad and ZTE, according to the newspaper's sources. For some second- and third-tier vendors, the shortage is as high as 70-80% due to a lack of purchasing bargain power.

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Raymond Sirí publishes his nice animations that have been used in a trial against Canon Inc. A Vimeo CMOS image sensor animation is here:



A Vimeo CCD animation is below:

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PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the OV9752, a CameraChip sensor for security and home monitoring applications.

"The OV9752 uses an RGB-IR dual band color filter instead of the traditional mechanical rotary filter, which both simplifies the design and reduces the sensor footprint. This approach also allows the sensor to capture extremely high quality IR images and video, even from great distances," said Chris Yiu, senior strategic marketing manager at OmniVision. "Traditional security cameras' mechanical IR filters are major cause for security camera failures. By eliminating the need for such a mechanical filter, the OV9752 provides our customers with a more reliable and highly effective camera solution."

Built on the 3.75um OmniPixel3-HS pixel, the OV9752 can capture in 1280 x 960 video at 60fps with 10-bit output, or at 45fps with 12-bit output. In addition to a regular operating mode with 165mW power consumption, the OV9752 features an ultra-low power mode, which allows the sensor to reduce the resolution and frame rates and operate at reduced power.

The OV9752 fits into a 6.3 x 5.2 mm package. It is currently available for sampling and is expected to enter volume production in Q4 2015.

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This old paper becomes more interesting in light of the recent curved sensor developments. In March 2008, Optics Express published a paper "The optical advantages of curved focal plane arrays" by Staford University team of Seung-Bum Rim, Peter Catrysse, Rostam Dinyari, Kevin Huang, and Peter Peumans:

"...we have shown that a curved imager provides a large degree of freedom in the design of the camera system, helps reduce fundamental aberrations and provides better resolution and brightness. This was demonstrated using designs for a simple and compact camera system by a full analysis of the characteristics of digital imaging systems with planar and curved FPAs."

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ON Semicondusctor reports Q1 2015 results:

"Now let me provide you an update on performance of our business units, starting with Image Sensor Group or ISG. Revenue for our Image Sensor Group was approximately $171 million, as compared to approximately $166 million in the fourth quarter. Aptina was nicely accretive to our non-GAAP EPS and we remain on track to generate $0.08 of non-GAAP EPS accretion from Aptina in the current year.

...our momentum in fast growing Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) market remains intact and we continue to be market leader with approximately 70 percent share for image sensors for ADAS related applications.

...We continue to gain increasing traction with our image sensors in the automotive market. We have high penetration with our image sensors in the Rear View Camera (RVC) market at the OEM level in North America, Japan and Korea. For advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) our 1 megapixel image sensors continued to ramp in Europe and North America. We benefited from strong sales of light trucks in North America as we have higher content in light trucks.

...Robust growth in the security market generated strong demand for our image sensing solutions during the quarter. Specifically, we had strong traction of our 1/3-inch, 720p sensor at leading security OEMs in China. Furthermore, China is beginning a large transition to 1080p security cameras, which will utilize our 2 megapixel, 1/3” and 3 megapixel, 1/3” sensors. We are seeing good penetration globally in the top tier machine vision camera manufacturers for the Python 1.3 megapixel, 5 megapixel, and 25 megapixel devices."

ON Semi Revenue Split

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French company registration site states that Yasuhiro Ueda, VP of imaging at Sony, is now a board member of New Imaging Technologies. The record is dated by Nov. 4, 2014 and is accompanied by a "Modification of the capital."

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BusinessWire: In its quarterly earnings report, Teradyne states "In System-on-a-Chip test, orders grew 66% based on a combination of the success of our new IP750Ex-HD system for image sensor test, continued strength in mobile processors, and growing demand in analog test." The company says that the IP-750 imager test orders are highest in over three years.

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Sony Europe’s Image Sensing Solutions Division, responsible for machine vision, security and industrial cameras under Sony brand, come up with an official statement on its CCD cameras fate:

Sony ISS Senior Marketing Manager, Matt Swinney, said: “Sony CCD-based industrial cameras will not be discontinued due to CCD sensor availability until 2026. There is no requirement to ask our customers to provide ‘last time buy’ estimations because it is not necessary. This is the difference Sony as a complete camera manufacturer brings to the market.”

Mr. Swinney added: “2015 is set to be an exciting year for Sony Image Sensing Solutions. New technologies and new product line ups will affect dramatic changes throughout the security, low vision and machine vision industries.”

Via Vision Systems Design.

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Reuters, Bloomberg: OmniVision announces that it agrees to be acquired by a consortium composed of Hua Capital Management, CITIC Capital, and GoldStone Investment (collectively, the “Consortium”). Under the terms of the agreement,
OmniVision stockholders will receive a total of approximately $1.9 billion. The agreement was unanimously approved by OmniVision’s Board of Directors.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which we believe realizes significant value for our stockholders and offers new opportunities for our employees to develop more innovative solutions for customers.” said Shaw Hong, chairman and CEO of OmniVision. “Our Board unanimously concluded that partnering with Hua Capital Management, CITIC Capital and GoldStone Investment was the best choice for OmniVision, as this transaction will provide our stockholders with significant and immediate cash value. Further, Hua Capital Management, CITIC Capital and GoldStone Investment are highly regarded China-based private equity firms with deep experience in the semiconductor industry. With our new partners’ knowledge and insight and the added flexibility that we will have as a private company, OmniVision will be able to focus on reaching the next level of growth, which will benefit our employees, customers and business partners.”

“We are excited to partner with OmniVision as they embark on this next phase of growth,” said Yue Liu, a managing director at Hua Capital Management. “We believe our unique industry knowledge and operational expertise can help accelerate OmniVision’s presence both in China and globally.”

“We are very pleased to be making this investment and are excited about the opportunity to work with OmniVision’s outstanding management team. With the strong backing of the consortium and the leadership of the company’s management, we believe OmniVision will continue to be well-positioned to achieve significant growth through its innovative and superior digital imaging technologies and its commitment to building long-term success,” said Yichen Zhang, Chairman and CEO of CITIC Capital.

OmniVision CEO Shaw Hong is expected to remain with OmniVision in the same capacity. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third or fourth fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2016, is subject to approval by OmniVision stockholders, regulatory approvals, including antitrust review in the U.S. and China, review and clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, and other customary closing conditions. In order to obtain clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, OmniVision will divest certain of its investments in Taiwan, including certain of its interests in a joint venture.

Update: As usual in public company acquisition cases, a number of law firms start investigations on grounds that the acquisition price is too low and not in shareholders interests. See the PRs of Tripp Levy PLLC, Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC, Wolf Popper LLP, Kahn Swick & Foti LLC, Robbins Arroyo LLP, Harwood Feffer LLP, and, probably, some more.

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Reuters, Bloomberg: OmniVision announces that it agrees to be acquired by a consortium composed of Hua Capital Management, CITIC Capital, and GoldStone Investment (collectively, the “Consortium”). Under the terms of the agreement,
OmniVision stockholders will receive a total of approximately $1.9 billion. The agreement was unanimously approved by OmniVision’s Board of Directors.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which we believe realizes significant value for our stockholders and offers new opportunities for our employees to develop more innovative solutions for customers.” said Shaw Hong, chairman and CEO of OmniVision. “Our Board unanimously concluded that partnering with Hua Capital Management, CITIC Capital and GoldStone Investment was the best choice for OmniVision, as this transaction will provide our stockholders with significant and immediate cash value. Further, Hua Capital Management, CITIC Capital and GoldStone Investment are highly regarded China-based private equity firms with deep experience in the semiconductor industry. With our new partners’ knowledge and insight and the added flexibility that we will have as a private company, OmniVision will be able to focus on reaching the next level of growth, which will benefit our employees, customers and business partners.”

“We are excited to partner with OmniVision as they embark on this next phase of growth,” said Yue Liu, a managing director at Hua Capital Management. “We believe our unique industry knowledge and operational expertise can help accelerate OmniVision’s presence both in China and globally.”

“We are very pleased to be making this investment and are excited about the opportunity to work with OmniVision’s outstanding management team. With the strong backing of the consortium and the leadership of the company’s management, we believe OmniVision will continue to be well-positioned to achieve significant growth through its innovative and superior digital imaging technologies and its commitment to building long-term success,” said Yichen Zhang, Chairman and CEO of CITIC Capital.

OmniVision CEO Shaw Hong is expected to remain with OmniVision in the same capacity. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third or fourth fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2016, is subject to approval by OmniVision stockholders, regulatory approvals, including antitrust review in the U.S. and China, review and clearance by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, and other customary closing conditions. In order to obtain clearance or approval under applicable Taiwan law, OmniVision will divest certain of its investments in Taiwan, including certain of its interests in a joint venture.

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