40M Camera Phones Use DxO EDoF Technology

SL from DxO Labs kindly sent me another press release that seems to appear nowhere on the web. I'd guess most of the 40M phones the PR talks about are shipped by Nokia. Since the PR can not be found elsewhere, here is the full text:

February 8th, 2011, Paris – As Mobile World Congress 2011 is about to open in Barcelona, DxO Labs announces that to date, more than 40 million camera modules featuring its unique Extended Depth of Field (EDoF) technology have been shipped. DxO Labs' EDoF technology, also known as DxO DOP (Digital Optics Processing), has been licensed to several leading sensor vendors and has been successfully implemented on 3-, 5-, and 8-megapixel sensor chips for a large range of best-selling mobile phones.

DxO Labs' EDoF unique technology allows fixed-focus lenses to become a viable alternative to traditional autofocus: it delivers sharp images from as close as 10 cm (depending on sensor size and resolution) out to infinity, with instant focus and zero shutter lag, and allows drastic shrinking of camera module size and cost. Further, it enables value-added imaging features such as barcode decoding and OCR.

"40 million cameraphones shipped with DxO DOP represents a very important milestone," says Jerome Meniere, CEO of DxO Labs. "It means that DxO Labs' EDoF technology is now widely adopted in the market. We expect to reach the 100 million units threshold in 2011."

DxO DOP7+, the latest generation of DxO Labs' EDoF technology, dramatically improves image quality and pushes the frontiers of EDoF performance still further to meet increasingly challenging smartphone requirements in term of cost, image quality, and size. DxO DOP7+ will be showcased at Mobile World Congress 2011.

About DxO DOP7+

DxO DOP technology is based on the co-design of optics and image signal processing. DxO DOP uses standard, fixed-focus lenses which are "powered" by an image-processing silicon IP block to achieve new imaging properties.

DOP7+, the latest generation of DxO Labs' patented EDoF technology, dramatically improves image quality and performance compared to previous generations. DOP7+ delivers unique end-user benefits:

1. Extended Depth of Field (EDoF): DxO DOP7+ uses standard fixed-focus lenses to deliver sharp images from as close as 10 cm (depending on sensor size and resolution) out to infinity. This allows close-up reading of 1D and 2D bar codes, and easy document or business card scanning.
2. Instant focus and zero shutter lag: compared to traditional autofocus, DOP7+ has zero shutter lag, and delivers images that are always sharp, with no latency nor focusing errors, leading to a much better user experience.
3. Much lower cost and size than traditional autofocus: DxO DOP7+ removes the need for costly, bulky, and fragile actuator-based autofocus systems, leading to a much lower bill of material and very thin, compact cameraphones.

Update: The PR was published in Embedded Imaging section of DxO web site. Thanks to SL for letting me know!