Renesas Electronics' new SoC enables industry-leading 16-Megapixel still image and high-speed continuous shooting for mobile phones

SANTA CLARA, USA: Renesas Electronics Corp., a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced the availability of a new system-on-chip (SoC), the CE150, for smartphones and high-end mobile phones that delivers industry-leading resolution of 16 megapixels and the ability to capture full-HD video (1920 × 1080 pixels).

The new CE150 SoC is designed to support high-speed continuous image shooting, a demand in high-end cameras offering top picture quality. The device features high-speed enhancements including a two-lane MIPI CSI-2 (Note 1) high-speed output interface from the camera to the mobile phone application processor.

In addition, advances in noise-reduction technology realize the industry-leading high-quality image processing by pairing the CE150 device with a 16-megapixel CMOS image sensor.

Recently, the market for mobile phones with camera functionality has seen an annual increase in the number of high-end mobile-phones with camera resolutions of more than 5 megapixels and functions that rival those of digital still cameras. In 2012, models with camera resolutions over 5 megapixels are expected to account for about 80 percent of total mobile phone shipments, while sales of mobile phone models with camera resolutions over 5 megapixels are predicted to exceed 400 million units.

Renesas Electronics has been active in this market since 2003 when its CE Series of camera engine products was introduced. The company has been expanding this business by developing semiconductor devices that enable mobile phone cameras to achieve image quality on a par with that of digital still cameras. As of the end of December 2010, Renesas Electronics has shipped more than 50 million CE Series devices in total, and the scale of shipments is expected to continue expanding.

Developed with the company’s accumulated expertise in this market, the CE150 SoC incorporates features such as high-speed continuous shooting functionality and image processing technology that meet the demand for higher pixel counts and superior image quality.