OmniVision “Deep Well” HDR Technology

Image Sensor Europe 2017 to be held in London on March 15-16, publishes an interview with Johannes Solhusvik, GM of Omnivision Norway. Few quotes on the HDR approaches and more:

"All of OmniVision’s HDR pixel technologies enable image capture in both bright and dark areas at the same time to produce image and video with balanced lighting. Deep Well HDR is the most advanced of these technologies.

“Deep Well” refers to full-well capacity. Our sensors have a full-well capacity of 50,000 electrons, which translates to 2-3 times larger than what is typical for 2.8µm pixels. Additionally, the pixels are read out with both high gain (for dark objects) and low gain (for bright objects) simultaneously, thus achieving HDR with one single exposure."

"In 5 years, we expect most sensors will be stacked sensors using backside illumination, which gives better image quality thanks to CMOS process nodes that are more optimized for its purpose. This applies to all markets, not just consumer cameras.

Further, our second-generation BSI technology is based on 65nm node semiconductor 300mm wafers to create the industry’s first 1.1-micron pixel image sensor, and provides low-light sensitivity and advancements in dark current and full-well capacity.

Stack technology is a two (or more) wafer solution that leads to smaller die size and higher-level integration opportunities with advanced camera features."