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OmniVision OV2724 should lead to super-small, 1080p60 front phone cameras

When most front-facing mobile cameras are shoehorned in between a myriad of sensors, they seldom have the breathing room they'd need for truly noteworthy performance. OmniVision can't quite defy physics, but its new OV2724 sensor could challenge at least a few of our common assumptions. The OV2722 successor stuffs 1080p imaging into the company's smallest chip of the kind, at 5mm by 5mm by 3.5mm -- ideally, leading to full HD front cameras in tinier devices. Full-size devices still stand to benefit, though. The OV2724 has the headroom to record at an extra-smooth 60 frames per second, and individual frames should be more eye-catching between the higher dynamic range and better low light shooting. The only frustration left is having to wait for mass production of the new sensor in the summer quarter -- we won't see any phones or tablets reaping the rewards for at least a few months.

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OmniVision Launches Smallest Full HD CameraChip™ Sensor for Mobile Devices

1/6-Inch OV2724 Enables 1080p HD Front-Facing Cameras For Next-Generation Smartphones, Tablets and Ultrabooks™

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/-- OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI), a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, launched today its smallest full high-definition (FHD) CameraChip sensor designed for front-facing camera applications in smartphones, tablets and ultrabooks. The new OV2724 delivers high frame rate 1080p/60 HD video with best-in-class sensitivity and dynamic range, and can fit inside a 5 x 5 x 3.5 mm module, making the OV2724 an ideal camera solution for video chat and video conferencing applications on mobile devices.

"High-definition video chat and our latest video-in-video (ViV™) functionality have quickly become highly desired features in mobile devices. However, enabling these features and integrating the necessary hardware into ultra-slim, high-performance devices is a continuous challenge for manufacturers," said Justin Kim , senior product marketing manager at OmniVision. "The OV2724 is uniquely positioned to address that challenge by offering smartphone and tablet manufacturers an easy-to-integrate front-facing camera solution that can meet both the performance requirement demanded by consumers, and the increasingly tight z-height constraint for next-generation mobile devices."

Utilizing an advanced 1.34-micron OmniBSI-2™ pixel architecture, the OV2724 captures 1080p HD video at 60 frames per second (FPS) with enhanced high dynamic range and low-light performance. The sensor's improved pixel performance ensures high-quality video recording even in the most difficult high- and low-light scenes. By using OmniVision's proprietary imaging technology to reduce or eliminate common sources of image contamination, such as fixed pattern noise and smearing, the 1/6-inch OV2724 produces clean and fully stable color images.

The OV2724 features a dual-lane MIPI interface and is available in chip scale package (CSP) and reconstructed wafer (RW) formats. The sensor is currently sampling and is expected to enter mass production in the third quarter of calendar 2013.