Seoul, Korea, March 19, 2002
hynix Semiconductor Inc., (www.hynix.com) today announced that it has jointly developed a camera module for the mobile handset market with Konica Photo Imaging (www.konica.com).
The newly developed module uses two different types of Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor chips manufactured with 0.35-micron technology. hynix also developed an imaging and coloring technology with Konica, a leading lens-maker for optical discs. With the CMOS image sensor chip designed by Konica’s micro optical and packaging technology, the module has three models, which include two 1-inch Common Intermediate Format (CIF) types with 100,000 pixels (short-focused product and double optical zoom product) and a 0.25-inch Video Graphic Array (VGA) type with 300,000 pixels.
The short-focused CIF model has a module height of 5mm, the double optical zoom model has height of 11mm and the VGA model has 6mm module height. In particular, the newly designed CMOS image sensor chip replaces the existing two-chip system (sensor chip and signal processing chip) to realize compact size and to reduce power consumption. This cost-cutting chip is easily adapted to other applications, other than mobile handsets, thus extending hynix’s competitiveness in product development with this leading technology.
The lens used in the module contains an adjustment-free focus feature, which adjusts automatically, producing clear images for the consumer regardless of the distance from the object. “The mobile handset camera market is expected to grow rapidly with up to 30 million units this year and 100 million units in 2003,”said Sung-hyun Choi, Senior Vice President of the Standard Products Division. “We plan to develop future modules with more than 1 million pixels and further increase hynix’s revenue over the next three years.”
