Digitimes: Competition among leading vendors weakened ASPs and gross margins in the major image sensor markets of digital cameras and handsets, motivating Cypress to focus on niche segments.
The two key categories in Cypress' CMOS image sensor lineup are customized image sensors and fast sensors. Cypress indicated that customers pay an average of US$1 million for the first phase of placing custom CMOS image sensor orders and additional payment has to be made when products are available for sale.
Under the two main categories, Cypress has also introduced CMOS image sensors with high resolutions. This type of CMOS image sensor focuses on resolution but not product size. The company currently has a CMOS image sensor that supports 14MP resolution.
This 14 Mpixels device, is it the sensor developed for Kodak some years ago by FillFactory or a new device?
ReplyDeleteNice guess. I don't know, but it very well might be.
ReplyDeleteI have done a quick google search and it looks like that. The device picture on the datasheet and the one on this link are the same.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cypress.com/products/?gid=12&fid=208&category=All&
http://news.fengniao.com/69/691199.html
It's weird that after 3 years they would sell 0.5 um technology devices as standard product. Cypress announced a 9 Mpix device for digital still camera a few years ago and it did not show up yet on their website. Maybe it was part of the Promos deal?
I was unable to understand how the picture on fengniao site is linked to Kodak cameras, but it seems quite possible that this is the same sensor. Even if not, the same people at Fillfactory developed both sensors, so one can expect a lot of similarities.
ReplyDeleteAso for the 0.5um process, Chipworks reverse engineering reports shows its quite normal to use 0.35-0.5um process even for the most recent DSLR sensors, except Sony.
You're right. Using a good old CMOS technology is not necessarily wrong. Maybe 0.5 um is a bit too old, but using 0.25 um or 0.35 um gives the advantage of getting much cheaper wafers. Wafers made in modern processes like 0.13 um and smaller can be very expensive !
ReplyDeleteAlbert.