Tiny sensor packs 100 000 pixels

17 Jun 2002

Portable videophones and videoconferencing on home computers move closer to reality with the launch of 1/7-inch video camera with an integrated lens and a pixel count of approximately 100 000. Toshiba says that the colour or monochrome chip will be inexpensive and consume 1/5 the power of an equivalent conventional CCD camera.

The new chip is made by complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), the manufacturing technology that produces millions of microchips every year. CMOS makes it possible to pack huge numbers of pixels into the sensor's imaging area and allow the camera and lens to fit a package 10 x 10 x 6 mm.

The 352 x 288 pixel sensor consumes 15 mW from a 2.8 V supply. Samples are available at Yen 3000 each and commercial quantities will be available from September 1999. JB