Toshiba Corporation has announced a new 1.12 micrometer Pixel CMOS image sensor that has the smallest pixel size with enhanced sensitivity and improved imaging performance.
The new sensor utilises a new back-side illumination (BSI) technology that deploys lenses on the rear of the sensor, on its silicon substrate, and not on the front where wiring limits light absorption.
This positioning boosts light sensitivity and absorption, while allowing formation of finer image pixels in smaller CMOS image sensors, bringing it more suitable for motion pictures applications as well.
With the usage of the new technology, it will be possible to further reduce the size of the smartphones as the image sensor get smaller.
It will be as simple as reducing the extra camera part from the Nokia N8 while maintaining the same image quality as earlier, which means reducing the size of the image sensor considerably while not sacrificing on the image quality as it used to happen before this.
Toshiba has made full use of BSI to realise 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.
The new technology also allows image sensor to record high definition videos in both 720 and 1080p resolutions that too at a constant frame rate of 30 frames per second.
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. For this Toshiba will be starting mainline production of image sensors form this year end itself.