OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI), a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, unveiled its latest OV7960 SoC solution for professional-grade closed circuit television (CCTV) applications. Designed specifically to meet the high-sensitivity demands of the security market, the OV7960 features the industry’s best-in-class low light sensitivity of 12V/lux-sec. Optimized for NTSC and PAL applications, the OV7960 with advanced image signal processing capabilities, delivers vivid image capture in the most challenging lighting conditions, making it an ideal solution for both indoor and outdoor security applications.
Shipment of image sensors for security applications is expected to grow from the 35 million units shipped in 2008 to 61 million units in 2012 according to iSuppli, a leading third-party analyst firm. “Professional CCTVs represent one of the fastest growing segments in the security industry and CMOS image sensors will continue to encroach on their CCD components,” said Pamela Tufegdzic iSuppli Consumer Electronics analyst. “OmniVision is well poised for increased market share with their growing portfolio of solutions tailored specifically to meet the demands of the security and surveillance market.”
Featuring the high-sensitivity 6 x 6µm OmniPixel3-HS™ architecture, OmniVision’s most advanced generation of front side illumination pixel architectures, the low-voltage, high-performance OV7960 provides the full functionality of a single-chip digital/analog NTSC/PAL sensor. The OV7960 operates at 30 frames per second (fps) in VGA mode, 50 fps in PAL mode and 60 fps in NTSC mode and has an active array size of 768 x 576 to support both PAL and NTSC outputs.
The OV7960 incorporates advanced image processing functions, including exposure control, gain control, white balance, lens correction and defective pixel correction to provide full-frame images. These functions are programmable through the serial camera control bus (SCCB) interface. For storage purposes, the OV7960 includes 16 bytes of one-time programmable (OTP) memory.
The OV7960 features automatic exposure/gain with 16 zone control, horizontal and vertical windowing capability, aperture/gamma correction, external frame sync capability and extremely low dark current for high temperature applications. The OV7960 comes in a variety of lead-free packaging options, and is capable of operating within a temperature range of -20º C to +70º C.