Kodak has defied all present expectations of mobile phone cameras by proposing their idea of a 5.0 megapixel camera onto a mobile phone.
The Eastman Kodak Company is certain that their new 1.4 micron sensor will have the ability to be put into some of the cheapest phones and plans to flaunt this fact at the Mobile World Congress later next week.
Combined with CMOS technology as well as Kodak’s own Color Filter Pattern (sic) technology, the KAC-05020 image sensor will produce excellent looking pictures even in poor lighting. Kodak says that this makes the 1.4 micron KAC-05020 better than 1.75 micron pixel CMOS image sensors.
“To manufacture sensors that utilize these very small pixels – only two to three times the wavelength of visible light – we needed to challenge everything we knew about pixel and sensor design,” said Chris McNiffe, General Manager of Kodak’s Image Sensor Solutions business.
“By completely rethinking the design of the CMOS pixel and leveraging our work with high sensitivity color filter patterns and algorithms, Kodak was able to develop this remarkable new sensor that will enable a level of imaging performance previously unavailable from CMOS devices.”
Kodak stated that it has completely re-engineered the technology so that it competes with CCD image sensors in standalone cameras. The KAC-05020 will support digital equivalent film speeds of up to ISO 3200, full 720p high def video at 30 frames per second (FPS).
It will also provide digital image stabilization, rapid auto-focus, red-eye reduction and facial recognition; thus challenging all present consumer digital cameras.
For avid picture takers, the Kodak image sensor may not replace any compact camera quality or options/controls. But, for all those unexpected picture moments, a cell phone will provide the quality needed.
The catch however is that Kodak has said not to expect anything till 2009, giving competitors enough time to start working on their comebacks.