Toshiba mobile phone CMOS sensor: 8MP@30fps and 1080@60p.

[Steve Castle]

Just to demonstrate how rapidly sensor development is moving these days. Here is Toshiba's 1/4" back-side illuminate CMOS sensor. We're already at 8MP at 30 fps (which is near the 8.8MP needed for 4K2K) and 1080p @ 60 fps on mobile phones.

Moreover, 1/4" sensors are near the bottom of the mobile phone heap, they are on the smaller/cheaper end of the mobile phone CMOS spectrum; usually reserved for front-facing cams rather than rear-facing cams; they usually sell for $5-10 to mobile phone makers depending on the order volume. Higher-end mobile phone sensors, such as the sensor in the Nokia N8 (which Toshiba also makes) is a 1/1.8" sensor (which is 5x the size of 1/4" in sensor size).

So while practically questionable, taking 4K video on iPhone of the near-future is at least technically feasible from the sensor side. As mobile phone sensors tend to be the first to get new technology these days, since they are the ones with the most volume and money in them, we should see 4K video in the near-future on most every camera (even on the low-end). And many will likely use 4K as a marketing gimmick on consumer cameras that may not really need them. Next year we are expecting 4K2K HDTVs to also hit the market, consumer electrics makers should be making consumer cameras that are designed to take advantage of those TVs (Samsung and JVC have already announced plans).

So outright resolution and speed is no longer a technical hurdle it once was, obviously resolution doesn't equate to image quality, but as consumer level 4K propagates we may again be questioning where our priorities lie.


http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2011_07/pr0701.htm

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced the launch of a new 1.12 micrometer pixel CMOS image sensor, the latest addition to its CMOS image sensor line-up, that offers the industry's smallest level pixel size with enhanced sensitivity and improved imaging performance of back-side illumination technology (BSI). Sampling of the new sensor will begin at the end of this month and mass production will follow from the end of 2011.As smartphones get smaller and their image sensors continue to offer higher resolutions, now in a range from 5M pixels to 8M pixels, the challenge here is of smaller pixels, where miniaturization can result in a fall off in performance. BSI overcomes this and brings a new level of responsiveness to CMOS imaging. BSI sensors deploy lenses on the rear of the sensor, on its silicon substrate, not on the front, where wiring limits light absorption. This positioning boosts light sensitivity and absorption, and allows formation of finer image pixels in smaller CMOS image sensors, bringing it more suitable for motion pictures applications as well.

Toshiba has made full use of the advantages of BSI to realize image pixels with a pitch of 1.12 micrometers, and to pack 8.08 million of them into a 1/4-inch sensor. The new sensor achieves high level imaging and processing that will bring a new level of image quality to smartphones.

Toshiba expects BSI CMOS image sensors to become the mainstream technology in portable digital technology, with applications expanding from mobile phones and digital cameras to smartphones and tablets.
CMOS image sensors are a focus product of Toshiba's Analog and Imaging Systems business. The latest addition to and enhancement of its BSI CMOS sensor line-up will reinforce the sensor business and the company's ability to meet the dual market requirements of smaller products

Key features

Optical format:	1/ 4 inch
Number of pixels:	8.08 megapixels
Size of pixels:	1.12 micrometers
Frame rate:	30 frame per sec. (8M pixel), 60 frames per sec. (Supports 1080p, 720p)