Omnivision Announces RGB-Ir Biometric Sensor and Notebook Sensor Family

PRNewswire: OmniVision introduces the OV9738, a 1/9" 1.4um RGB-Ir sensor with PureCel Plus pixel supporting both color and IR imaging. The OV9738 can lower overall system cost, and can bring IR-based biometric capabilities for facial recognition, as well as gesture interfaces, to a broader range of devices, including mainstream laptops and mobile devices. The OV9738 image sensor is currently available for sampling.

Market analysts predict that the global facial recognition market will reach $7.75b by 2022. According to a recent report by Variant Market Research, the gesture-recognition market is expected to reach $43.6b by 2024.

PRNewswire: OmniVision announces the OV01A product family of image sensors, designed specifically for notebook computers with ultra-thin bezels. The OV01A is built on OmniVision's 1.12-µm PureCel Plus stacked architecture, with a very small form factor for space-constrained applications such as narrow-bezel notebooks and handheld mobile devices.

"In today's high-end clamshell notebooks, camera module size is one of a few limiting factors when designing devices with ever-narrower bezels," said Arun Jayaseelan, Senior Marketing Manager at OmniVision. "The OV01A enables a camera module size of 2.5 mm in the 'y' dimension, which allows developers to create notebook bezel designs that are narrower than ever before."

This sensor's target module package size is also less than 2 mm in the "z" dimension, enabling ultra-thin bezels. Additionally, pad locations and image array offsets are optimized for smaller module sizes.

This product family is available in three versions:

• OV01A10: RGB camera for Bayer color imaging in the visible range
• OV01A1B: monochrome IR camera for biometric imaging; optimized for high NIR QE
• OV01A1S: RGB-Ir, combining RGB and IR imaging capabilities in a single sensor

The need for IR applications like biometric authentication in consumer devices demands sensors that can combine both RGB and IR imaging. This is important for achieving accurate gesture and facial recognition in applications such as Windows Hello.

The OV01A image sensors are currently sampling and are expected to start volume production in Q1 2018.