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Rapid growth of mobile camera phones and similar portable imaging products has created an enormous variety of solutions. Historic lack of standards meant manufacturers had to develop their own definitions for imaging modules, starting from sensors and electrical interfaces, to customized mechanics, shielding and optics. But, in 2004, Nokia Corporation (Espoo, Finland and Irving, Texas) and ST Microelectronics (Plan-Les-Ouates, Switzerland) embarked on a joint effort at component standardization. What arose was the Standard Mobile Imaging Architecture (SMIA; Helsinki, Finland). Since then, others have joined the initiative as present membership exceeds 500 organizations.
Driven by the demanding needs of mobile imaging applications, SMIA has become an open architecture for all companies making, buying or specifying miniature integrated camera modules. It contains specifications by which any compliant sensor can be connected to a conforming host system (such as a cell phone) to obtain a working unit with "acceptable performance."
Of course, acceptable performance is highly subjective. According to a study by Jos. Schneider Optische Werke GmbH (Bad Kreuznach, Germany), most users currently rate camera phone image quality as mediocre. Recognizing the need for improvement, designers are constructing models with higher resolution sensors and more powerful lens systems. One of the first out of the gate is Nokia's N95. Featuring 5.0 megapixels with optics by Carl Zeiss AG (Oberkochen, Germany and Thornwood, N.Y.), it syncs directly with PictBridge, the standardized technology for printing images directly from memory cards without a computer.
PenTile Matrix from Clairvoyante Inc. (Cupertino, Calif.) is helping LCD manufacturers produce brighter, low-power displays with better resolution for delivering the latest multimedia content over handheld devices. Adding a white subpixel to the conventional mix of red, green and blue, results in a substantially more vivid presentation. Prior to PenTile, multicolor technology required extra subpixels to enhance brightness, which meant greater cost. The PenTile approach, with its more efficient subpixelation, thereby increases intensity.
"Mobile phones have evolved from simple phones to more complex devices, increasingly being designed with more data-centric applications such as mobile TV, photo sharing, web browsing, navigation and games," said Clairvoyante President and CEO Joel Pollack. "These applications create a conflicting challenge because they not only need considerably higher display resolution formats and two-to-three times the brightness of legacy single-function phones; but, as a consequence, use substantially more power."
On every display, an opaque area between each pixel and subpixel prevents light from shining through. The border, plus active image region, equals the total dimensional area. And, the proportion of active-to-total area is the panel's aperture ratio.
Integrating PenTile technology with low temperature polycrystalline silicon abets the inherent aperture ratio and brilliance, while augmenting overall transmissivity and power efficiency. Clairvoyante offers co-development programs and licenses PenTile to some of the largest panel producers including Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd. (Seoul, Korea).
"Displays optimized with PenTile technology that are coming to market will be able to meet the critical need for higher device performance and significantly lower battery consumption," Pollack added. "These displays will generate greater value for the whole supply chain—from the designers to component manufacturers to the carriers—and satisfy the growing functionality demands of consumers."
Eastman Kodak Company's (Rochester, N.Y.) 1.3-megapixel, ¼-inch format KAC-01301 CMOS sensor is optimized specifically to enable price-competitive next generation cell phones while delivering high-quality image capture. Key to the success of the KAC-01301 is the firm's PIXELUX technology, which employs low dark-current pinned photodiodes and a four-transistor shared pixel structure for improved photosensitivity and decreased noise, compared to standard CMOS imagers.
In independent partnerships with Motorola Inc. (Schaumburg, Ill.) and with Texas Instruments Inc. (Dallas), Kodak has demonstrated combined solutions that boost fidelity and facilitate ease-of-sharing mobile phone images. More vibrant colors and richer detail are the outcomes of Kodak's Perfect Touch Technology, which supports CIF, QCIF, QVGA, SVGA, SXGA, VGA and XGA formats.
General Manager of Consumer Imaging Services, Sandra Morris said, "Kodak is committed to developing great products and services that unlock images from the mobile phone and at 3GSM we are showing the full range of innovative technology and connectivity to demonstrate how the industry can help meet increasing consumer demand."
Micron Technology, Inc. (Boise, Idaho) just introduced a family of sensors with a 1.75-μ pixel and resolution that ranges from 1.3-to-5.0-megapixels. All capture VGA-format—or better—video at 30 fps. Joining Micron's previously announced 8.0-megapixel image sensor, they maintain picture quality while shrinking pixels and effectively creating a sleeker form-fit factor for today's ultra-thin camera phones.
Digital still cameras benefit from a 5.0-megapixel CMOS image sensor, the MT9P001, which achieves high resolution acquisition at 15 fps in HDTV formats and surpasses traditional CCD-based cameras' performance. Programmable gain, frame rate, exposure time, image mirroring and viewfinder and snapshot modes are incorporated onto the chip.
Micron also announced a new video sensor targeted at the consumer market. The MT9M002, which operates at 60 fps in 720p format with excellent low-noise attributes, features 2.2-μ DigitalClarity technology, 0.22-inch optical format and additional pixel area for image stabilization. All unite to make the MT9M002 ideally suited for compact, high definition camcorders that can function with smaller and less expensive lenses.
Snapping a picture with a camera phone cues NewBay Software Ltd.'s (Dublin, Ireland) PIXOTA client to display a pop-up prompt with simplified choices for sending the image to a predefined blog/album or to another subscriber. PIXOTA also can transmit several images at a time, making it easier to upload multiple pictures. And, by sending files via HTTP rather than MMS, the problem of maintaining full fidelity is solved. (MMS, the Manufacturing Message Specification standard limits picture size which results in image decimation.) Available for BREW, Java/J2ME and Symbian platforms, NewBay Software as well links to snail-mail service—turning images into physical postcards for delivery to any address in the world—just by entering information into the handset.
Network operators offering PIXOTA include Bell Mobility (Montréal, Québec, Canada), The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC (London, England), Orange Nederland NV (Den Haag, The Netherlands) and Vodafone Group Plc (Newbury, Berkshire, England). NewBay Software also enjoys professional relationships with leading handset manufacturers, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Lund, Sweden).
Scalado AB's (Lund, Sweden) PhotoFusion is a set of imaging functions which applies special effects in realtime, increasing camera phones' value and exclusivity, lessening time-to-market and offering significant differentiation to manufacturers and platform providers. Advanced capabilities allow capturing, editing, viewing and sharing of pictures, which can be stored or sent via MMS or E-mail. In essence, PhotoFusion adds high-end functionality to Symbian OS Series 60 and UIQ handsets.
From up to nine individual photos, PhotoStrip can create a single-image collage as a print-quality JPEG file. All results are visible in the display as if the object were seen through the camera lens. Image size, quality, contrast, sharpening, lens correction, color filtration and night modes are set by intuitive menu-driven commands. PhotoFusion extends advantages normally expected from megapixel cameras, creating VGA-dimensional panoramas with no visible borders or stitches.
Patented zoom and auto-focus solutions combine specialized lenses with digital light algorithms. Implemented in software, Tessera Technologies, Inc.'s (San Jose, Calif.) methodology replaces mechanical hardware and can be incorporated into sensors, ISPs, application processors or run off-line.
Recently, Tessera debuted wafer-level, chip-sized encapsulation for image sensors, which it accomplished by a series of business and technology acquisitions including Shellcase, Ltd. (Jerusalem, Israel). Shellcase CF and Shellcase RT permit Tessera's customers to assemble high-yield, low-profile camera modules for cell phones, PDAs, laptops and automotive electronics. Shellcase utilizes an innovative polymeric glass-silicon structure which allows image-sensing through the envelope, itself.
The latest addition in Tessera's handheld consumer optics growth strategy is Eyesquad Ltd. (Tel Aviv, Israel) which builds upon the 2006 creation of the Micro-Optics Center of Excellence, realized with Digital Optics Corporation (Charlotte, N.C.). Vice President of Business Development and Sales, Allan Bacon commented, "By closely coupling signal processing and wafer-based optics, Tessera is able to simplify fabrication and optimize size, quality and cost. Our multi-chip, system-in-package technologies are raising the bar on price, performance and miniaturization in wireless applications."
Contributing editor and industry analyst, Lee J. Nelson, is at the forefront of emerging as well as evolving technologies for compute-intensive electronic imaging applications. Contact him at: 1-703-893-0744, lnelson@rcn.com or http://www.garlic.com/biz
author: By Lee Nelson