The demand for smartphones with great camera specifications is expected to grow as we head into 2022. Smartphone camera technology remains to be an important area for innovation and development for smartphone vendors. We note that CIS vendors are actively responding to these needs with a pipeline of strong image sensor products for the smartphone market this year.
Today, OMNIVISION in its new rebranded identity, announced its latest image sensor for smartphones, the 200MP OVB0BH0 image sensor with small pixel size. The image sensor is positioned for the rear-facing wide camera applications across the high-end smartphone market.
Image Source: OMNIVISION
Key Features
- The OVB0BH0 is a 200MP image sensor with a sensor size of 1/1.28" and a small pixel size of 0.61μm designed on OMNIVISION’s PureCel®Plus stacked die technology. The large sensor size boosts the overall light sensitivity especially in darker environments and also the high-resolution factor enables strong and impressive details to be captured in bright environments.
- The sensor offers 200MP resolution support in RAW output. The image sensor also integrates 4 cell color filter array and through remosiac, delivers a high-resolution 50MP Bayer output in well-lit environments. For low-light scenarios, the sensor applies 16-to-1 pixel binning mechanism to amplify the pixel size to a large 2.44µm pixel size with a resolution of 12.5MP with high light sensitivity. When the pixel is binned, the sensor targets a power consumption of 320mW.
- The image sensor supports 8K video recording capability at 30fps and 4K video capture at 90fps. The sensor offers 3 exposure Staggered HDR timing. The sensor also adopts the flagship Quad Phase Detection (QPD) technology for strong autofocus performance, especially in low-lit scenarios.
Outlook
OMNIVISION’s OVB0BH0 is the company’s first 200MP CIS product and is set to compete with the likes of the 200MP ISOCELL HP1 image sensor from Samsung System LSI. OMNIVISION continues to see demand for its high resolution 48MP OV48B, 50MP OV50A, 60MP OV60A and 64MP OV64B CIS products. The vendor also recently introduced the first 32MP OV32C featuring RGBC color filter array for boosting light sensitivity.
This TSMC fabricated 200MP image sensor with QPD technology aims to cater to the growing High Pixel demand trend from the smartphone customers. We note the CIS vendor is working with its customers for qualifying this image sensor and would be expected to be seen in smartphones by mid of 2022. China smartphone vendors are looking to position their high-end devices with strong camera specifications where OMNIVISION would be aggressively targeting its 200MP image sensors. OMNIVISION also announced its new brand identity at CES 2022 to signify an expanded product offering with strong capabilities and solutions.
As per our Smartphone Image Sensor Market Report, the market witnessed a decline of more than 5 percent where Sony Semiconductor continued to capture the first position, followed by Samsung System LSI and OMNIVISION in Q3 2021. Going into 2022, we expect to see strong competition among the CIS vendors to capture share across the growing mid, high and flagship tier smartphone market.
Key Questions
- Which Smartphone OEMs would be the first to apply the 200MP CIS products this year? Will the OEMs adopting this sensor offer 200MP output support in their smartphone cameras?
- Flagship SoCs have claimed to support of 200MP resolution within their ISP. What are the resulting implications of 200M CIS products when applied within different SoC platform solutions?