DJI Mavic 3 Review
December 13, 2021 By Leave a Comment
The Mavic 3 is DJI’s flagship folding camera drone. It's the first to feature dual cameras mounted on the same gimbal: a Hasselblad four-thirds sensor and a 28x hybrid zoom. Find out why it's best in its class in our review!…
Axcelis Explains its Strengths in Image Sensor Manufacturing
December 13, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Axcelis Investor Presentation explains the company's offerings in CIS production:
Article about Will Semi and its CEO
December 13, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Tencent article talks about Will Semi, Omnivision's parent company, and its CEO Renrong Yu:- Will Semi is the second largest company in China's semiconductor and chip stocks by market value, second only to SMIC.
- According to data from the China Semiconductor Industry Association, Will Semi is the second largest company in China's IC design companies in terms of revenue, second only to HiSilicon.
- According to Techsugar's statistics, Will Semi design revenue in 2020 is about 17.3 billion yuan, and it is the only company with a revenue of over 10 billion among the Shanghai and Shenzhen IC design companies. Goodix Technology’s IC design business is the second only 67 100 million yuan in revenue.
- Will Semi is the company with the largest number of employees (3291) among domestic listed chip design companies, with the highest per capita research and development expenses -up to 1.05 million yuan per capita. In 2020, the research and development expenses reached 1.727 billion yuan.
- The per capita salary of Will Semi reaches 456,631.64 yuan, and the employee benefits are among the best
In 1985, Yu Renrong successfully entered Tsinghua University's Department of Wireless Communication (now Electronic Engineering Department) 85 EE85 class, only then began to have the legendary character of the protagonist in the novel:
Class 85 EE85 of the Department of Wireless Communications of Tsinghua University (Beijing) is known as "Half of China's Chip Industry". Many people who will stir China's chip and sensor industries in the future come from here, such as:
- Zhao Weiguo - Tsinghua Unisplendour and Yangtze River Storage, Chairman (leading domestic chip company)
- Yu Renrong - Founder of Will Semi
- Feng Chenhui - Co-founder of Zhuosheng Microelectronics (Leading RF Chip Enterprise)
- Lu Huang - One of the early investors of Will Semiconductor and Zhaoyi Innovation. Founder of 4 companies including Quanzhou Kuntaixin Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., Quanzhou Yushuo Industrial Design Co., Ltd. and Quanzhou Aifang Technology Co., Ltd.
- Lidong Zhao - Founder of Suiyuan Technology (China's first self-developed artificial intelligence high-end training chip), former General Manager of RDA
- Zhao Lixin - Founder of Galaxycore Microelectronics (leading domestic camera sensor company)
- Ren Zhijun - Founder of Xinhenghui Smart Card Company
- Shu Qingming - One of the founders of Zhaoyi Innovation (a leading company in memory chips)
- Weidong Liu - Founder of Jiuhao Electronics (sensor signal conditioning chip)
- Yu Qunhui (female) - Deputy General Manager of Feitian Integrity
- Gao Feng - General Manager of Stony Brook Capital (Semiconductor Investment Fund), former Deputy General Manager of Tsinghua Unisplendour
Evolution of Scientific Image Sensors – Past, Present, and Future
December 12, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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IEEE Buenaventura Section publishes a presentation "Evolution of Scientific Image Sensor ICs - Past, Present, and Future" by Atul Joshi , CEO and chief innovation officer of SAAZ Micro Inc.
Terranet Develops Event Camera-Based LiDAR
December 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Terranet CTO Nihat Kücük presents BlincVision combining structured light 3D imaging with event-driven sensor:
Event-Based Structured Light 3D Imaging
December 9, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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ETH Zurich publishes "ESL: Event-based Structured Light" project page by M. Muglikar, G. Gallego, and D. Scaramuzza."We propose a novel structured-light system using an event camera to tackle the problem of accurate and high-speed depth sensing. Our setup consists of an event camera and a laser-point projector that uniformly illuminates the scene in a raster scanning pattern during 16 ms. Previous methods match events independently of each other, and so they deliver noisy depth estimates at high scanning speeds in the presence of signal latency and jitter. In contrast, we optimize an energy function designed to exploit event correlations, called spatio-temporal consistency. The resulting method is robust to event jitter and therefore performs better at higher scanning speeds. Experiments demonstrate that our method can deal with high-speed motion and outperform state-of-the-art 3D reconstruction methods based on event cameras, reducing the RMSE by 83% on average, for the same acquisition time."
A Youtube video presentation describes the ETH approach:
Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 Di III review
December 9, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Tamron's 35-150mm f2-2.8 Di III is a unique proposition for full-frame mirrorless cameras, combining an unusually bright aperture with a useful 4.3x range from mild wide-angle to telephoto. Find out how it performs in our in-depth review!…
Imec SWIR Plans
December 8, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Imec has updated its page on SWIR imagers, including a new Vimeo video:
The Pixel Technology Explore activity is looking at two methods for cost-effective uncooled IR detection:
- thin film on silicon – Materials such as organic and colloidal quantum dots offer low-cost synthesis, compatibility with a variety of substrates and processing feasibility on a large area. This article gives you an in-depth view.
- hybrid infrared imagers – Both III-V hetero-epitaxy on silicon and III-V material transfer on silicon are compatible with processing in a silicon wafer fab and reduce the manufacturing costs of IR sensors.
Luminar CTO Explains Major Advantages of InGaAs Sensors in LiDARs
December 8, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Luminar co-founder and CTO Jason Eichenholz discusses the company’s acquisition of its exclusive InGaAs sensor provider and advantages of the SWIR LiDAR photon budget:SiLC Unveils First Commercial-grade FMCW LiDAR
December 8, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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BusinessWire: SiLC launches the new Eyeonic LiDAR providing accurate instantaneous depth, velocity, and dual-polarization intensity information while enabling immunity to multi-user and environmental interference. No performance data has been released.
“Eyeonic will be transformational to many industries across the globe by enabling the anticipated mass migration to coherent imaging,” explained Mehdi Asghari, founder and CEO, SiLC. “Our unique technology and innovative manufacturing process puts SiLC in the optimal position to provide the key building blocks needed for this next wave of significant innovation – at a competitive price.”
MIPI D-PHY Introduction
December 8, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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MIPI publishes a video introduction into different D-PHY standards:
Canon to Start Mass Production of Low-Light SPAD Sensor for Security Cameras in 2022, Builds New CIS Fab in 2023
December 7, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Nikkei-Asia: Canon plans to start mass-production of the 3.2MP SPAD sensor for security cameras in 2022. The sensor is said to provide a color night vision, as well as ToF feature:"The sensor can recognize light at one-tenth the brightness conventional sensors need, lending itself to a range of industrial applications such as driving and surveillance.
The number of pixels in a sensor is key to image clarity, and Canon's SPAD sensor boasts 3.2 million, making it the world's densest, more than three times the number of the company's conventional sensor. It can recognize the time of light returning in units of less than a nanosecond, allowing for more accurate object recognition.
Canon's factory in Kawasaki will begin mass-producing the new sensor in the second half of 2022. The company plans to install the sensors in its own security cameras that it is to introduce by the end of next year. It will also market the sensors to other companies.
In 2023, Canon will invest more than 21 billion yen ($185 million) to build a new image sensor plant in the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Hiratsuka, where it plans to gradually increase production of the sensor. The sensor can be made with the production technology used for CMOS sensors and at around the same cost."
Update: Few slides from the company's 2020 presentation:
Sony SPAD Presentation
December 7, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Build the fastest portable SSD
December 7, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Portable drives are invaluable and in this guide I’ll show you how to build the fastest one I’ve ever tested - and it only took two parts and a few minutes to assemble! …
Sony SWIR Presentation
December 7, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Lucid Vision presents its SWIR camera based on Sony SenSWIR InGaAs stacked sensor:
Q3 Smartphone Sensor Shipments Drop by 24% YoY
December 6, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Aiji Micro App: According to Qunzhi Consulting’s (English name Sigmaintell) market report, global smartphone CIS shipments in Q3 2021 were approximately 1.21B, a YoY decline of approximately 24.0%. Qunzhi Consulting estimates that global smartphone image sensor shipments in 2021 will be approximately 5.05B, a YoY decrease of 10.3%:
Samsung, DxOMark, and Counterpoint on Mobile Camera Innovations and Trends
December 6, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Tecno Mobile publishes a webinar "Mobile Camera Trends 2022: Innovation Talk:"Among other things, Samsung presents a 64MP GWB mobile sensor:
Sony SenSWIR White Paper
December 6, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Sony publishes a white paper promoting its InGaAs SWIR sensors:
MIPI CSE Adds Functional Safety to Automotive Image Sensor Interface
December 5, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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MIPI Alliance has recently released the Camera Service Extensions (MIPI CSESM) v1.0 specification, which enhances the MIPI Camera Serial Interface 2 (MIPI CSI-2) image sensor interface with end-to-end functional safety and other features for automotive applications:
- A cyclic redundancy check (CRC-32) to detect data transmission errors, ensuring the image data captured by the sensor is accurate when received at the ECU
- A frame counter to detect frame loss or duplication, with its accuracy verified by the CRC, ensuring the continuity of video streams from cameras to ECU
- A message counter that can be used as a timeout checker to detect any loss of data caused by a stopped or stuck transmission between an image sensor and ECU
- Service Extension Packet (SEP) functionality is implemented over the entire PHY link, which provides packetization and uniform delivery of image data.
While the initial release of CSE provides the functional safety enabling features described above, the next version is already under development. CSE v2.0 will add security features to CSE_i and CSE_c, and will work with the upcoming MIPI Security specification to bring end-to-end security to the MASS framework. Version 2.0 is expected to be completed in mid-2022.
Pixart Unveils Distance Sensors
December 5, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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EETimes: Pixart launches Single-Axis Distance Sensor (SAS) product line based on the optical-geometric technology. There are two sensors in the new product line: PAC7088J1 is a middle-range version and PAC7088J2 is s short range one.
Photon Counting Camera Use Cases
December 4, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Hamamatsu publishes a new flyer for its Orca-Quest qCMOS camera with example applications for its photon resolving capability:
Image Sensors and AI Processors
December 3, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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PRNewswire: Xailient announces face recognition AI for Sony's intelligent vision sensor IMX500 with 97.8% accuracy up to 3 meters distance. On the IMX500, Xailient claims to provide the world's most power-efficient Face Recognition AI.Shivy Yohanandan, Chief Scientist and co-founder of Xailient, says, "The IMX500 is a game-changer for the smart camera market. Delivering the image sensor and AI processing on a single chip has dramatic power efficiency benefits, which is important to extending battery life."
Ray Edwards, Xailient's VP of Market Development, says, "This should sell like hotcakes! Anyone building a smart camera system would be nuts not to consider the IMX500. This is the new standard."
SynSense and Prophesee announced a partnership. The two companies leverage their respective expertise in sensing and processing to develop ultra-low-power solutions for implementing intelligence on the edge for event-based vision applications.
The partnership combines in one single chip SynSense’s low-power vision SNN processor DYNAP-CNN with Prophesee’s event-based Metavision sensors, and is focused on developing a line of cost-efficient modules that can be manufactured at high volume.
“As IoT applications in smart homes, offices, industries and cities proliferate, there is an increasing need for more intelligence on the edge. Our experience in implementing neuromorphic enabled vision sensing with smart pixel methods complements SynSense’s expertise in neuromorphic processing to make implementing high performance vision more practical. Together we can drive the development of highly efficient, lower cost products that provide more visibility, safety and productivity in a wide range of use cases.” said Luca Verre, CEO and co-founder of Prophesee.
Image Sensors at ISSCC 2022
December 2, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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ISSCC publishes its 2022 Agenda. There are 13 image sensor-related papers:
- Charge-Domain Signal Compression in Ultra-High-Speed CMOS Image Sensors
Keiichiro Kagawa,
Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan - A 0.37W 143dB-Dynamic-Range 1Mpixel Backside-Illuminated Charge-Focusing SPAD Image Sensor with Pixel-Wise Exposure Control and Adaptive Clocked Recharging
Y. Ota, K. Morimoto, T. Sasago, M. Shinohara, Y. Kuroda, W. Endo, Y. Maehashi, S. Maekawa, H. Tsuchiya, A. Abdelghafar, S. Hikosaka, M. Motoyama, K. Tojima, K. Uehira, J. Iwata, F. Inui, Y. Matsuno, K. Sakurai, T. Ichikawa,
Canon, Kanagawa, Japan - A 64×64-Pixel Flash LiDAR SPAD Imager with Distributed Pixel-to-Pixel Correlation for Background Rejection, Tunable Automatic Pixel Sensitivity and First-Last Event Detection Strategies for Space Applications
E. Manuzzato, A. Tontini, A. Seljak, M. Perenzoni
Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento, Italy; Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia - An 80×60 Flash LiDAR Sensor with In-Pixel Histogramming TDC Based on Quaternary Search and Time-Gated Δ-Intensity Phase Detection for 45m Detectable Range and Background Light Cancellation
S. Park, B. Kim, J. Cho, J-H. Chun, J. Choi, S-J. Kim
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Korea; SolidVue, Suwon, Korea, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea - A 38μm Range Precision Time-of-Flight CMOS Range Line Imager with Gating Driver Jitter Reduction Using Charge-Injection Pseudo Photocurrent Reference
K. Yasutomi, T. Furuhashi, K. Sagawa, T. Takasawa, K. Kagawa, S. Kawahito
Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Japan - A 1/1.57-inch 50Mpixel CMOS Image Sensor with 1.0μm All-Directional Dual Pixel by 0.5μm-Pitch Full-Depth Deep-Trench Isolation Technology
T. Jung, M. Fujita, J. Cho, K. Lee, D. Seol, S. An, C. Lee, Y. Jeong, M. Jung, S. Park, S. Baek, S. Jung, S. Lee, J. Yun, E. S. Shim, H. Han, E. Park, H. Sul, S. Kang, K. Lee, J. Ahn, D. Chang
Samsung Electronics, Hwasung, Korea - A 4.9Mpixel Programmable-Resolution Multi-Purpose CMOS Image Sensor for Computer Vision
H. Murakami, E. Bohannon, J. Childs, G. Gui, E. Moule, K. Hanzawa, T. Koda, C. Takano, T. Shimizu, Y. Takizawa, A. Basavalingappa, R. Childs, C. Cziesler, R. Jarnot, K. Nishimura, S. Rogerson, Y. Nitta,
Sony - A Fully Digital Time-Mode CMOS Image Sensor with 22.9pJ/frame∙pixel and 92dB Dynamic Range
S. Kim, T. Kim, K. Seo, G. Han,
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea - A 64Mpixel CMOS Image Sensor with 0.56μm Unit Pixels Separated by Front Deep-Trench Isolation
S. Park, C. Lee, S. Park, H. Park, T. Lee, D. Park, M. Heo, I. Park, H. Yeo, Y. Lee, J. Lee, B. Lee, D-C. Lee, J. Kim, B. Kim, J. Pyo, S. Quan, S. You, I. Ro, S. Choi, S-I. Kim, I-S. Joe, J. Park, C-H. Koo, J-H. Kim, C. K. Chang, T. Kim, J. Kim, J. Lee, H. Kim, C-R. Moon, H-S. Kim,
Samsung Electronics, Hwaseong, Korea - A 200 x 256 Image Sensor Heterogeneously Integrating a 2D Nanomaterial-Based Photo-FET Array and CMOS Time-to-Digital Converters
H. Hinton, H. Jang, W. Wu, M-H. Lee, M. Seol, H-J. Shin, S. Park, D. Ham
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon, Korea - A 0.8V Intelligent Vision Sensor with Tiny Convolutional Neural Network and Programmable Weights Using Mixed-Mode Processing-in-Sensor Technique for Image Classification
T-H. Hsu, G-C. Chen, Y-R. Chen, C-C. Lo, R-S. Liu, M-F. Chang, K-T. Tang, C-C. Hsieh
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan - Augmented Reality – The Next Frontier of Image Sensors and Compute Systems
C. Liu, S. Chen, T-H. Tsai, B. De Salvo, J. Gomez
Meta Reality Labs, Redmond, WA - Concepts, Architectures and Circuits for Sub-THz Sensing and Imaging
A. Stelzer,
Linz University, Linz, Austria
EDoF-ToF Paper
December 2, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Rice University publishes an OSA Optica paper "EDoF-ToF: extended depth of field time-of-flight imaging" by Jasper Tan, Vivek Boominathan, Richard Baraniuk, and Ashok Veeraraghavan."Conventional continuous-wave amplitude-modulated time-of-flight (CWAM ToF) cameras suffer from a fundamental trade-off between light throughput and depth of field (DoF): a larger lens aperture allows more light collection but suffers from significantly lower DoF. However, both high light throughput, which increases signal-to-noise ratio, and a wide DoF, which enlarges the system’s applicable depth range, are valuable for CWAM ToF applications. In this work, we propose EDoF-ToF, an algorithmic method to extend the DoF of large-aperture CWAM ToF cameras by using a neural network to deblur objects outside of the lens’s narrow focal region and thus produce an all-in-focus measurement. A key component of our work is the proposed large-aperture ToF training data simulator, which models the depth-dependent blurs and partial occlusions caused by such apertures. Contrary to conventional image deblurring where the blur model is typically linear, ToF depth maps are nonlinear functions of scene intensities, resulting in a nonlinear blur model that we also derive for our simulator. Unlike extended DoF for conventional photography where depth information needs to be encoded (or made depth-invariant) using additional hardware (phase masks, focal sweeping, etc.), ToF sensor measurements naturally encode depth information, allowing a completely software solution to extended DoF. We experimentally demonstrate EDoF-ToF increasing the DoF of a conventional ToF system by 3.6 ×, effectively achieving the DoF of a smaller lens aperture that allows 22.1 × less light. Ultimately, EDoF-ToF enables CWAM ToF cameras to enjoy the benefits of both high light throughput and a wide DoF."
Sony – Qualcomm Joint Lab to Work on Image Sensor and Processing Optimizations
December 2, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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During the recent Qualcomm's mobile processor announcements, there was a part on establishing a joint lab with Sony in San Diego working on image sensor and processor co-optimization:
BAE Presents 12MP 240fps APS-C Sensor
December 1, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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BAE (Fairchild Imaging) presents 12MP 240fps APS-C sensor LTN4625A with global and rolling shutter modes:
Advantest Speeds Up its CIS Production Tester
December 1, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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GlobeNewswire: Advantest has begun shipping the fourth generation of its high-speed image-processing engine that applies heterogeneous computing technology to detect defects in the data output from CMOS image sensors. When integrated on the proven T2000 ISS platform, the new T2000 IP Engine 4 (Image Processing Engine 4) system provides the means of evaluating the latest high-resolution, high-speed CIS devices used in advanced smart phone cameras.The new T2000 IP Engine 4 features enhanced computing power to handle huge volumes of imaging data while also reducing test times and the cost of test. Used along with Advantest’s 4.8GICAP image capture module, the new tester can perform high-volume, at-speed testing of the most advanced mobile CIS including 3.5-Gsps C-PHY and 4.8-Gbps D-PHY devices. Image-processing accelerators enable fast testing of high-resolution CIS with more than 200MP.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Camera Features
December 1, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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Qualcomm announces its next generation mobile processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 1:"Snapdragon Sight Technology includes the first commercial 18-bit mobile ISP, capturing over 4000x more camera data than its predecessor for extreme dynamic range, color, and sharpness at staggering speeds up to 3.2 gigapixels per second. This is also the first 8K HDR video capture in a mobile platform and it’s capable of capturing in the premium HDR10+ format that’s loaded with over a billion shades of color. Video will look even more stunning thanks to the new Bokeh Engine which adds beautiful soft backgrounds to videos; it’s like Portrait Mode for video capture. Snapdragon 8 also includes a fourth separate ISP, the new Always-On ISP, which allows the camera to run with extremely low power consumption so users can experience always-on face unlocking and locking if your face isn’t present for heightened privacy."
Canon announces conclusion of toner cartridge patent lawsuit in China
December 1, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Tyrafos Raises "Hundreds of Millions of RMB" in Round A+
November 30, 2021 By Leave a Comment
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iNews, Lieyunwang, iFeng: Guangzhou Tyrafos (Chinese name Guangzhou Yinxin Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd.) announces the A+ round of financing led by Yunqi Capital. By the end of this round of financing, Yinxin Semiconductor is expected to receive hundreds of millions of yuan in the near future.
Tyrafos also announces announced the release of "the world's first non-single photon dToF" (possibly, they mean dToF that is not based on SPADs) and ELISA molecular biological detection solution basedon image sensors.
"The world's first non-single-photon dToF released by Yinxin Semiconductor is the world's first technical solution to achieve direct ToF using CMOS process. Not only the accuracy and resolution are several times higher than the existing SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode) solution. In addition, the overall