PMD Ready for Mass Production of the First Commercially Available ToF Chip

PMD Technologies announces that is 160x120 pixel 3D FoF imager is ready for mass market usage. The PMD PhotonICs 19k-S3 is said to be the first commercially available 3D-ToF chip for camera developers and system integrators.

The read-out clocks of 15MPixel/s are said to be possible. With the integrated SBI (Suppression of Background Illumination) technology the product can be deployed in indoor and outdoor environments. Its 160x120 pixel resolution is optimized for close range human-machine interaction up to 2 meters.

PMD reference design CamBoard nano has 37x30x25mm size and is said to be the smallest depth sensor reference design available worldwide. The board is intended for near range applications, has one infrared LED as an active illumination source and is USB powered.

Providing a frame rate of up to 90fps at full resolution of 160x120 pixel with a 90deg FOV, the CamBoard nano is suitable for gesture detection. It delivers depth maps and gray value image data simultaneously.

"We are convinced that the availability of the 19k-S and the CamBoard nano reference design will initiate a 3D-ToF community, enabling applications, demos and product solutions we all don’t think of so far", says Dr. Bernd Buxbaum, CEO of PMDTechnologies. “The opportunities and use cases are endless as the PMD technology is very scalable in terms of size, performance and cost.”

Update: PMD published a flyer presenting its new small sized solution:

Update #2: PMD published a concise datasheet of its 19k_S3 chip. The table below summarizes the sensor's data:

The CamBoard nano flyer is here. The power for the board seems to be quite high at about 2.5W, considering its short range up to 2m.