Imec has launched a CMOS image sensor capable of capturing 12-bit 4,000 x 2,000 pixel progressive images at 60fps.
Based on a stagger-laced dual exposure, the image sensor developed with Panasonic was processed using Imec’s 130nm CMOS process on 200mm silicon wafers to deliver high-speed and high-quality imaging, at a reduced output bit rate.
The image sensor chip is a floating diffusion shared 4T pixel imager, with a pitch of 2.5µm and a conversion gain of 70 μV/e-, which allows for both a classical rolling shutter or stagger-laced scanning mode. The 4K2K 60fps imaging performance is achieved by 12-bit column-based delta-sigma A/D converters.
The stagger-laced scanning method improves imaging sensitivity and produces a 50 per cent reduction in output data rate by alternating the readout of two sets of horizontal pixel pairs arranged in two complementary checkerboard patterns. Additionally, the overall power consumption of the imager is less than two Watts.
