With the rapid development of smart phones, many people no longer carry a camera, but use their mobile phones to take pictures directly. This is due to the continuous improvement of the quality of digital image sensors. Even with the compact size it still has good quality. Image sensors have become commonplace in devices that require "vision" to the machine.
Image sensing combined with big data and AI to lead the market to flourish
Imaging sensors have become more widely used for electronic devices, such as smartphones, digital camcorders and cameras, and the widespread use of video cameras in automobiles to increase vehicle safety and even become a key part of autonomous driving applications. In addition, more and more smart phones are equipped with dual-image sensors for taking pictures with a shallow depth of field to simulate the shooting effects that can be achieved with a high-end single-lens reflex camera, as well as to capture a photo with the depth of field data used for face recognition function.
In addition, the popular technology of digital image sensor is change from CCD to CMOS. It can reduce costs and achieve power-saving purposes. A new generation of image sensors also needs to have a wide dynamic range (HDR) function, even in a high contrast with the light and dark scenes, but also be able to take better photos.
ON Semiconductor has been plowing the imaging sensor market and introduced a variety of image sensors; the following will introduce two excellent products. ON Semiconductor's AR0238 is a 1/2.7-inch CMOS digital image sensor with an active-pixel array of 1928Hx1088V. It captures images in either linear or high dynamic range modes with a rolling-shutter readout. It includes sophisticated camera functions such as in-pixel binning, windowing and both video and single frame modes. It is designed for both low light and high dynamic range scene performance. It is programmable through a simple two-wire serial interface. The AR0238 produces extraordinarily clear, sharp digital pictures, and its ability to capture both continuous video and single frames makes it the perfect choice for a wide range of applications, including industrial and HD video.
The ON Semiconductor AR0238 can be operated in default mode or programmed for frame size, exposure, gain, and other parameters. The default mode output is a 1080presolution image at 60 frames per second (fps) through the HiSPi port. In linear mode, it outputs 12-bit or 10-bit A-Law compressed raw data, using the parallel or serial (HiSPi) output port. In high dynamic range mode, it outputs two exposure values that the ISP will combine into an HDR image. The device may be operated in video (master) mode or in single frame trigger mode.
The AR0238 is designed to operate over a wide temperature range of -30°C to +85°C. The AR0238 is a progressive-scan sensor that generates a stream of pixel data at a constant frame rate. It uses an on-chip, phase-locked loop (PLL) that can be optionally enabled to generate all internal clocks from a single master input clock running between 6 and 48 MHz. The maximum output pixel rate is 148.5 Mp/s, corresponding to a clock rate of 74.25 MHz. This sensor can support video recording and streaming, 1080p60 (monitoring) video and high dynamic range imaging applications.
Another ON Semiconductor AR0430 image sensor has quite good performance. The ON Semiconductor AR0430 is a stacked 1/3.2−inch BSI (back side illuminated) CMOS active−pixel digital image sensor with a pixel array of 2312H x 1746V (2320H x 1754V including border pixels). The unique feature of AR0430 is simultaneous depth sensing. It incorporates sophisticated on−chip camera functions such as mirroring and snapshot mode. It is programmable through a simple two−wire serial interface and has very low power consumption. The core of the sensor is a 4 Mp active−pixel array. The timing and control circuitry sequences through the rows of the array, resetting and then reading each row in turn. In the time interval between resetting a row and reading that row, the pixels in the row integrate incident light.
The AR0430 digital image sensor features ON Semiconductor’s breakthrough low−noise CMOS imaging technology that achieves near−CCD image quality (based on signal−to−noise ratio and low−light sensitivity) while maintaining the inherent size, cost, and integration advantages of CMOS. The AR0430 sensor can generate a full resolution image at up to 120 frames per second (fps) in 10−bit mode. An on−chip analog−to−digital converter (ADC) generates a 12−bit or 10−bit value for each pixel. The sensor contains a set of control and status registers that can be used to control many aspects of the sensor behavior including the frame size, exposure, and gain setting. These registers can be accessed through a two−wire serial interface.
The AR0430 is a progressive−scan sensor that generates a stream of pixel data at a constant frame rate. It uses on−chip, phase−locked loop (PLL) to generate all internal clocks from a single master input clock running between 6 and 48 MHz. The main applications of AR0430 are smartphone, tablet, dual camera and consumer devices.
As iPhone X drives the development of face recognition applications, there will be more applications that combine big data, artificial intelligence and image capture, and to represent the image sensor market to thrive development. These two image sensors from ON Semiconductor will be your perfect choice.