DSC / DVC

We help you differentiate

We pride ourselves on providing you with the technology and camera features you need to differentiate your designs in the camera market, which according to a November 2007 Gartner report, "is becoming a fierce battleground not only for traditional camera manufacturers but also for vendors with backgrounds in PCs and consumer electronics, which are vying for market share on the world stage."

In the past, the camera market melee was fought with megapixels as each competitor sought to become the first to advance the next highest resolution. But now, according to Gartner, "pixel count is no longer the decisive differentiating factor…recognizing that differentiation is the key to survival in a maturing market, manufacturers have for several years been adding new features to their cameras to increase their appeal and make them stand out."

Using advanced features to win

At Aptina, we’ve long understood that while great image quality and high resolution will always be an important factor in camera design and selection, advanced features and system simplification are the keys to helping our customers succeed in the DSC and DVC markets.

Fast frame rates for pictures

Even mid-range DSC customers are beginning to demand fast camera response times and the kind of fast-motion and advanced features that can adequately capture sports and other fast-moving scenes. Fast frame rates enable just this sort of DSC burst mode and give Aptina customers a real competitive advantage in the marketplace. High frame rates also improve existing features like auto focus and image stabilization. We are the technologists that can help you implement this sort of feature into your next DSC design.

Fast frame rates for video and hybrids

Our speedy CMOS imagers also enable two other key competitive advantages, hybrid cameras and HD DVCs.

Hybrid cameras can take great quality, printable photographs and shoot standard definition or HD video. These cameras offer consumers a two-in-one solution. We’ve long prided ourselves on our high-speed video capabilities and consider high-speed image capture one of our core competencies. In fact, Aptina is one of the market share leaders in high-speed, machine vision CMOS image sensors. We use that technology to build DSC-quality image sensors with frame rates that CCDs can’t match.

All of this speed is also good for DVC designers looking a gain a competitive edge. We’ve designed HD video-specific imagers capable of capturing 720p HD video at up to 60 fps or 1080p HD video at up to 30 fps. By way of comparison, standard television in the U.S., Europe, and Japan only uses about 24 fps. These HD-ready sensors include the MT9P401 and the MT9M002.

Image quality

We pride ourselves on creating what we believe are the most advanced pixels in the world. The sensitivity of our CMOS image sensors lets them capture vivid pictures that, we believe, compare favorably with the output of CCDs with similar-sized pixels.

Let’s face it; assumptions and stereotypes have created confusion about CMOS image capabilities and quality. Some designers mistakenly think that CCDs are technically superior and take better pictures. But this is no longer true.

What is true is that first-generation CMOS image sensors, like many first-generation technologies, had image noise issues in lower light conditions and generally took poorer images than the incumbent CCD sensors. There were many contributing factors that made those first CMOS sensors noisier than CCDs, including using logic process technology and not using active pixel architecture.

We have overcome both of these challenges and we have a portfolio of image sensors that produce high-quality images. The picture below was taken at night with our 8Mp sensor, which uses our first-generation 1.75µm pixel. Notice that there is virtually no noise in the darkest areas of the image.