Omnivision illuminates the dark side with new 14.6 megapixel CMOS sensor

Look, we know that a sensor announcement falls on the dull side of magical, but without them there wouldn't be any new cameras now would there? So listen in when we tell you about the 14.6 megapixel CMOS sensor from OmniVision capable of shooting stills or 1080p video at 60 fps (with some pixel binning). The 1/2.33-inch OV14810 sensor features an active array of 4,416 x 3,312 backside illuminated pixels capable of 15fps at full resolution. Omnivision is also sampling its new OV14825 for mobile applications. Both should start appearing in still / video cams and mobile phones shortly after they hit mass production in Q2 of the year twenty-ten.

[7egend Posted Jan 5th 2010 8:37AM]

Rumor has it...Apple ordered 5million of these sensors for the new iPhone HD. Comes from a very reliable source, me.

[NewL Posted Jan 5th 2010 9:28AM]

Can somebody enlighten me about how background illumination of the sensor's pixels helps with picture quality?

[GGG Posted Jan 5th 2010 9:53AM]

@NewL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backside_illumination

[bitchtits Posted Jan 5th 2010 10:07AM]

To be perfectly honest, I couldn't give a toss about the majority of new phones and "dell offers the same laptop as before but with a yellow colour option" posts.

What's really interesting about gadgets is the technology that they inside them, so thanks

[One Love Posted Jan 5th 2010 10:21AM]

MegaPixel Wars!

[hajj3 Posted Jan 5th 2010 10:45AM]

so which brands use omnivision chips then? canon already have 14mp in their 500d DSLR i think, that does 20fps 1080p, 60fps would be ace.

[Temple Posted Jan 5th 2010 11:29AM]

@(Unverified)

Omnivision doesn't make sensors for dSLRs. They are primarily known for supplying sensors for webcams and camera phones, they also supply sensors to things like backup cameras on cars and security cameras.

This sensor for instance is a 1/2.33" sensor. Which is middle of the range point-and-shoot sized(P&S) sensor. Its got an area of 28.5 mm^2, in comparison an APS-C is ~374 mm^2 and a full-frame sensor is 864mm^2. An entire world apart.

However, Omnivision is considered a tier-1 Chinese supplier, they are a US face/branch of Chinese manufacturers (like Vizio), they supply the camera for the iPhone for instance. They are likely planning on supplying lower-end P&S with these sensors as the line between cellphone camera and low-end P&S get blurred.