JANUARY 31--OmniVision Technologies Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA; www.ovt.com), a supplier of CameraChip solutions for high-volume imaging applications, has announced broad support from digital-signal-processing (DSP) chip providers Grandtech, Sunplus, and Winbond for its recently announced 1.3-Mpixel CMOS CameraChip. The CameraChip and the DSP are core components of a highly integrated digital-camera design.
Grandtech is a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of digital still camera and scanner integrated circuits (ICs). Sunplus is a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of high-quality, value-added consumer IC products. Winbond is a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of personal computer, telecommunications, and consumer electronics products.
Each has announced digital-still-camera reference designs that incorporate their respective DSP and OmniVision's OV9620 1.3-Mpixel CMOS CameraChip. Reference designs help manufacturers integrate complementary technologies quickly, enabling them to more rapidly bring low-cost digital cameras to market.
OmniVision's OV9620 CameraChip outputs image data in raw RGB Bayer pattern format. The DSP processes the raw RGB data and performs a number of adjustments that optimize the image. In addition, the DSP generally provides a number of other control functions widely considered necessary for highly integrated camera designs. Such control functions include file formatting and compression into JPEG or other file formats, TFT controls, mass storage interface and flash controls.
The OV9620 comes in a 48-pin package. Although data output is in raw RGB format, the chip integrates autowhite balance, autoexposure, and autogain control and performs correlated double sampling.
