This article will discuss about the Cell Phone Camera Sensor. This topic is more about electronics which are more general in nature. In the past, the camera embedded in a cellphone was only an additional feature, not as a main feature. But in the end, the camera technology in cell phones developed rapidly. Initially the camera on the cellphone has a CIF or VGA capacity, then it has grown to 1.3MP then 2MP until now the Nokia 808 PureView has a superior camera with a capacity of 41MP.
Currently, cellphone camera sensors already have sophisticated technology and have camera results that are comparable to standard cameras. Like the Nokia N8, which carries the first camera phone technology for a 12MP lens. And it is one of the first camera phones to feature Carl Zeis optics with Xenon flash.
Some of the camera sensors of mobile phones are designed to resemble compact digital cameras and have good camera qualities and features like the Sony Ericsson Cybershot. But did you know that cellphone camera sensor technology consists of 2 types, namely CCD and CMOS types.
CCD stands for Charge Coupled Device and CMOS stands for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, which are two different camera sensor technologies for capturing objects digitally. Each of them has unique strengths and each has its own advantages.
Both types of cellphone camera sensors can convert light into electric charges and process into electronic signals. In a CMOS sensor, the number of pixels transferred is very limited and will be converted into an analog signal. All pixels are devoted to capturing light for high image quality. The advantage of a CMOS sensor is that the technology is cheaper than CCD. While the drawback, because the CMOS sensor captures objects 1/50 per second, it will cause a tilted image, depending on the direction of the camera. For example, when we take a fast moving object, for example when taking a photo of a fast moving car, the car itself will not be distorted, but the background will be tilted.
The CCD sensor has no problem with that. CCD sensor can capture objects at once into one frame. Some of the differences include:
- The CCD sensor is of high quality but low-noise. CMOS sensors are prone to interference and high-noise.
- Each pixel in CMOS has several transistors located beside it, so that the light sensitivity of CMOS is lower.
- Less power consumption of CMOS resulting in a lower power sensor.
- CCD consumes a lot of power, 100 times more than CMOS.
- CMOS can be made in most products and so tends to be less expensive.
- CCDs have been in production for a long time so they tend to be of better quality.
- Thus a brief description of the cellphone camera sensor. May be useful.