Dongbu HiTek begins shipping ambient light sensors to Nextchip

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Dongbu HiTek has commenced shipping Ambient Light Sensor (ALS) devices to Nextchip Co. Ltd, a Korean fabless company specializing in the design of video processing chips for consumer electronics.

Leveraging Dongbu HiTek’s expertise in CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) technologies, the ALS chips are being manufactured using state-of-the-art CMOS foundry processing at the 0.18-micron node.

“ALS devices have emerged as key components in a growing range of consumer electronic products using LCD screens,” noted Y.J. Lee, VP of Dongbu HiTek’s Mixed-Signal Foundry Business Unit.

“The Nextchip devices ensure optimal viewing by sensing ambient light to automatically adjust display backlighting, while also reducing power consumption by up to 40 percent.” He expects these benefits will get Nextchip’s ALS devices designed into an expanding range of mobile electronic products led by smartphones and laptop computers.

Dongbu HiTek anticipates expanding upon its productive collaboration with Nextchip to include the foundry processing of Ambient Light Proximity Sensor (ALPS) devices. Like the ALS devices, ALPS chips sense ambient light to automatically adjust LCD display backlighting – but they also sense the proximity of physical objects to add further control of the display.

Thus, an ALPS device can automatically turn off the LCD touchscreen of a mobile smartphone, for example, when the smartphone is held close to one’s ear. Without this feature, one’s ear contacting the touchscreen could result in an undesired action.

The announcement highlights one of Dongbu HiTek’s strengths as a specialized global foundry. The company’s expertise in deploying advanced mixed-signal processing technologies to manufacture image sensors is highly regarded by fabless ventures.

In addition to capabilities to manufacture the ALS and ALPS sensors, Dongbu HiTek has distinguished itself as a specialized manufacturer of image sensors for automotive and surveillance cameras (CCTVs) and special sensors for medical appliances used in endoscope and X-rays as well linear image sensors for bar code scanners.