It seems that mobile phone manufacturers are not willing to give up on increasing the level of mysticism of megapixels. Cell phones are getting thinner, which results in the use of smaller lens and sensors. The increase in pixels and the decrease of the image sensor's size produces a visible degradation of picture quality. The world's largest manufacturer of CMOS image sensors, OmniVision, has also recognized this problem and has announced such an 8 megapixel image sensor for phones, that is capable of processing a much larger quantity of light than previous ones, thanks to BSI (Back Side Illumination) technology. BSI technology makes the processing of a larger number of photons available, thus it can provide a better picture quality at a smaller pixel size.
The root of the matter is that the light-sensitive layer is on the chip's back, so the necessary circuits don't take up space on this layer, thus almost the full chip can be covered with this light-sensitive layer. Interference between pixels can also be reduced with this technology, since the metal that causes this effect and the dielectric parts are placed on the back of the sensor. BSI is no new technology, but it looks like OmniVision will be the first to make it available to the public. The first samples of the 8 megapixel OmniBSI sensor will be shipped in June to the company's partners, while they will become available for the large public in the second half of the year.
Translated by Szaszati
