OmniVision launches advanced automotive megapixel color high dynamic range image sensor

SANTA CLARA, USA: OmniVision Technologies Inc., a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, announced its most advanced automotive image sensor to date, the OV10630.

The new system-on-a-chip sensor combines megapixel 1280 x 800 resolution (including 720p HD video) with the industry’s best color high dynamic range (HDR) and low-light sensitivity. Ideally suited for wide field of view and multi-camera applications, the OV10630 also incorporates special features and output formats for automotive machine vision applications.

With its proprietary capability to simultaneously deliver high image quality and superior scene information content, the OV10630 is ideal for automotive applications that perform vision and sensing functions concurrently.

The 1/2.7-inch OV10630 is built on a 4.2-micron pixel OmniPixel3-HS architecture, enabling best-in-class low-light sensitivity of 3.5V/lux-sec to capture detail-rich, HD-quality color video in any environment.

Using a proprietary new HDR concept and processing technology, the new automotive sensor delivers excellent scene reproduction in the most demanding lighting conditions, achieving a dynamic range of 110dB in black-and-white, and more than 100dB in color.

The OV10630 not only has the ability to accurately reproduce high-contrast scenes, but also employs auto dynamic range control to adjust to changing lightning and scene conditions to produce a clear, detailed and low-noise color image in any automotive situation. The sensor’s proprietary approach to generating HDR images also dramatically reduces or eliminates many typical HDR image sensor artifacts such as motion ghost artifacts and other unwanted effects.

A highlight of the sensor is its range of special features and output formats that allow the OV10630 to be used for many different automotive camera systems and other applications that run multiple machine and vision-based applications simultaneously.

It enables multi-camera systems (up to and including 360-degree view) to incorporate additional functionality, including right angle and panoramic view and such sensing functions as lane departure warning, object detection and collision warning and avoidance.

“The OV10630 achieves a new benchmark in automotive image sensing applications, further out-distancing the closest competing devices in terms of performance,” said Inayat Khajasha, senior product marketing manager for automotive products at OmniVision. “Its ability to deliver color HDR images in HD format, even under the toughest operating conditions, makes it a very attractive choice for next-generation automotive applications.”

The OV10630 has an active array of 1280 x 800 pixels, providing 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. It supports a digital video parallel port, providing fully-processed, display-ready color HDR video output in 8- or 10-bit YUV format, or 18-bit combined RAW RGB output with complete user control over formatting and data transfer.

Fully unprocessed RAW data is also available in two 10-bit format images. The sensor also incorporates a number of automotive-specific features to support system health, including a temperature sensor with automatic disabling capabilities.

The OV10630 is currently sampling and is undergoing AEC-Q100 qualification. It is scheduled to enter mass production in the second quarter of calendar 2011.