Image sensor claimed to work equally well in all lighting conditions

OmniVision has brought out a 2.9-micron, 2MP image sensor with ultra-low-light (ULL) technology.

The OS02C10 works equally well in all lighting conditions.

It can detect incident light in both visible and NIR wavelengths and produce precise color and monochrome images for security applications.

Quantum efficiency (QE) is 60% at 850nm and 40% at 940nm which enables the use of lower-power IR illumination in total darkness, resulting in an estimated 3x reduction in system-level power consumption.

Additionally, 940nm NIR lighting cannot be detected by the human eye in dark indoor settings, while 850nm light is suitable for outdoor security cameras.

The OS02C10’s ability to capture images using undetectable 940nm NIR light means that indoor security cameras will not disturb sleeping occupants, and can be easily concealed from intruders.

The amount of NIR light that a sensor requires to capture high-quality images can be quantified with a new metric called NIR SNR1, which takes into account the QE, pixel size and read noise.

The OS02C10 achieves an SNR1850nm of 23nw/cm2 and an SNR1940nm of 31nw/cm2.

The OS02C10 has a low-noise design, achieving an SNR1 of 0.16 lux while producing high definition 1080p images.

OmniVision’s proprietary dual-conversion-gain technology allows this sensor to achieve ULL performance, while the 3-frame staggered shutter minimizes motion artifacts and enables a dynamic range (HDR) of 120 dB.

Additionally, these technologies are upgradable to 2K and 4K resolution as security systems begin their transition to higher-quality displays.

Source from:electronicsweekly