That's right, previous MOS sensors at 1/4 inch were o­nly 0.35MP. Matsushita plans to begin mass production by this Fall.

Matsushita Electric Industries has developed a 2MP 1/4 inch size MOS sensor which has 6 times the pixel resolution of existing models.

With the newly developed MOS sensor, 2MP is made possible by electrical transistor sharing and wiring structure scheme; previous 1/4 inch current types o­nly allow resolutions of up to 0.35MP. The transistor that perceives the light into pixels, while o­n current models would require 16 units for 4 pixels, has now been reduced to 7 units. Also, the size of 1 pixel has been miniaturized from 5.6μm to 2.25μm.

By adding a new circuitry scheme, the quantity of circuits has been reduced to half - this space can now be used for the photo diode allowing for a higher quality image. With these advancements, the operational voltage has been reduced from the current 3.3V to 2.5V, and less than 1/5th of the current power is required for the actual CCD sensor.

Matsushita plans o­n beginning mass production by the end of Fall 2004, and will aim the technology at cellular phones and mobile devices.



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/17632.html

News Release:
http://matsushita.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/jn040215-1/jn040215-1.html