Capella announces industry's first patent-pending smart optical lid sensor chip for tablets and smartphones

SANTA CLARA, USA: Capella Microsystems Inc. has announced the industry’s first smart optical lid sensor chip which uses a new patent-pending technique to eliminate magnetic lid sensors in tablet computers, notebooks and smartphones.

The CM36262 contains an optical lid sensor, ambient light sensor and proximity sensor. The lid sensor makes it easier for users to power down touch-screen products, while the ambient light sensor adjusts screen brightness to extend battery life, and the proximity sensor turns off dialing when a smartphone is held in the listening position next to an ear. The new chip incorporates Capella's patented Filtron technology which eliminates the need for external optical filters for both the proximity and ambient light sensors.

The company is also announcing that the chip uses a new patent-pending optical approach for sensing the presence of a lid or fabric cover on touch-screen products. This approach replaces the standard method of using magnets or mechanical switches. The optical method is less expensive, more reliable and makes it much easier to power down a tablet computer by closing a fabric or leather cover without the need to align an embedded magnet over a pickup sensor. This new method also allows an automatic power down by placing a tablet or smartphone facedown on a table.

Capella's patent-pending approach is the first optical solution that allows a touch screen to distinguish the shadow of a closed lid (or fabric cover) from the shadow of a user's hand. This distinction allows the touch screen to power down when a lid is closed, but to stay powered as a hand holds the screen and hovers to make selections. The new chip has the sensitivity and intelligence to recognize a hand from the ability of human skin to transmit an infrared light beam whereas a lid or fabric cover is opaque.