InvenSense Camera Phone Image Stabilization

InvenSense has announced that it is addressing image quality problems in the high-growth camera phone market with its miniature image stabilization system, due out in the second half of this year. Global camera phone sales are soaring and are projected to be the common capture device in the world within a few years. Gartner Group estimates that over nearly 300 million camera phones were shipped in 2005, while Infotrends/CAP Ventures projects that number to reach one billion units by 2010. However, the market has a major hurdle to overcome. Especially when jitter is magnified by autofocus and zoom features. Consumers accustomed to digital still cameras are dissatisfied with camera phone image quality, which suffers from blurring caused by natural hand jitter. The challenge is that while DSCs have room to integrate image stabilization systems, camera phone circuitry is tightly packed, requiring tiny and inexpensive components. Up until now there have been no image stabilization systems small enough or cost effective enough to deploy in handsets. InvenSense has created the world’s smallest dual-axis gyroscope, which answers the camera phone industry need to accurately sense natural hand jitter. Proprietary wafer-level integration allows the gyroscope to meet the high-performance requirements for image stabilization applications while meeting the strict size and cost requirements of mobile handset manufacturers. [/TAGS]