HD, Full HD, Ultra HD, 8k UHD – advances in resolution and quality are changing the way we interact with video displays, whether wall-mounted in our living room or hand-held on a train or café. And as the quality available from these displays continues to improve, the technology required to ensure their performance before leaving the manufacturing plant needs to advance as well.
Today, final inspection of flat-panel displays – whether for a TV or a smartphone – is done at factories around the world using cameras based on the KAI-29050 Image Sensor from ON Semiconductor. This 29 megapixel CCD image sensor provides high resolution with superb image quality, allowing automated systems to inspect individual sub-structures that can be found within each display pixel. But as the resolution of flat panel displays continues to increase, even higher resolution inspection systems are required in order to accurately – and efficiently – monitor the quality of these displays before they are shipped to customers.
That’s why we’re developing a new CCD image sensor with even higher resolution and faster frame rate to address this growing need. At last year’s VISION trade show in Stuttgart, Germany, ON Semiconductor showed a technology demonstration of our new KAI-47051 Image Sensor, which provides 47 million pixels of resolution at almost twice the frame rate of the KAI-29050. IEEE recently published a technical paper written by the ON Semiconductor team developing this image sensor that describes the design and technical challenges associated with bringing this advanced device to market. And engineering grade versions of this device have just become available, allowing camera manufacturers to finalize their camera designs in anticipation of the release of this product to full production.
We’re working hard to complete commercialization of this exciting new device, and hope to have it available in production soon. So that the next generation of flat panel displays will continue looking pixel perfect.