IC Media: new integrated, color VGA, single-chip camera.

IC Media Corporation has announced it has expanded its single-chip camera portfolio with the addition of a new single-chip camera, targeted at the video cellular phone and personal digital assistant (PDA) markets. The new single-chip camera integrates a VGA-resolution (640 x 480 sensor array) CMOS image sensor with a state-of-the-art, color-processing engine. IC Media developed its new camera to mirror the cellular telephone industry's migration from CIF- to VGA-resolution technology.

"We are delighted to announce our newest product so closely on the heels of our recent 2.0 megapixel CMOS camera sensor. These announcements reflect our broad spectrum of technical achievements and our dedication to providing our customers with a wide range of complete visual communications solutions, regardless of application," said Dr. Ben Wu, president and chief executive officer of IC Media.

As cell phone cameras become more and more familiar to the public, quality and resolution become critical. VGA resolution provides faster frame-per-second functionality, enabling clearer and faster imaging. IC Media's new cell phone camera, the ICM-205B, is designed for such specific requirements.

IC Media's ICM-205B is a highly integrated single-chip camera. Unique to IC Media's 205B integrated technology is an on-chip, color-processing, proprietary digital signal processor (DSP), able to handle sophisticated auto-exposure control, auto-white-balance control and Gamma correction. This integrated technology enables images to be captured in a wide variety of environments, including low-light, dim-light and incandescent lighting conditions.

The ICM-205B operates at 30 frames per second in a progressive manner. Produced in 0.35-micron CMOS technology, the device uses a 1/4" optical system. Pixel size is 6.0-micron x 6.0-micron, giving a sensor area of 5.1 mm x 3.8 mm. The chip includes an on-chip, nine-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) performing correlated double sampling to improve image quality. The on-chip DSP coverts the sensor output and automatically adjusts exposure time as well as color settings. The ICM-205B also enables the output of different formats (including 8/16-bit YUV or YCbCr, 16-bit or 24-bit RGB and 8-bit raw data) for the best suitable interface with a cell phone or PDA controller for either embedded or accessory cameras.

IC Media offers a complete line of tools for the ICM-205B, including demo boards and recommended circuit information.

The ICM-205B is currently available in shrunk plastic LCC (11.43 mm x 11.43 mm) packages. Pricing for the ICM-205B is $12.00 in 100,000-unit quantities.