TowerJazz and CMOSIS announce ramp to volume production for CMOSIS’ 12-megapixel CMV12000

BELGIUM & ISRAEL: CMOSIS, a leading independent developer and supplier of high end CMOS image sensors for professional imaging applications, and TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry leader, have announced the ramp to volume production for CMOSIS’ 12-megapixel CMV12000, following the very successful volume production of its CMV products.

In 2010, CMOSIS and TowerJazz announced collaboration on the CMV product line, the flagship product family of CMOSIS. Since its introduction, the CMV product family has been very successful in gaining market share.

CMOSIS’ off-the-shelf CMV12000 is manufactured in TowerJazz’s Fab-2 in Migdal Haemek, Israel using its advanced 0.18µm specialty CIS process (TS18IS). The sensor’s excellent performance is based on CMOSIS’ collaboration and co-development with TowerJazz’s R&D experts.

The CMV 12000 product features 5.5 x 5.5 µm pixels laid out in a high-resolution 4096 x 3072 matrix covering superHD (4k) resolution in an APS-C optical format. It offers high sensitivity and low noise, global shutter and a frame rate of 150 fps providing best in-class performance serving various markets such as industrial inspection, broadcasting, motion analysis and others.

According to a 2012 Yole Développement CMOS image sensors report: 530,000 machine vision cameras were sold in 2011 and sales of machine vision cameras are expected to grow to 644,000 units in 2015 at a 5 percent CAGR.

The report also noted that while today CCD still represents the large majority of the machine vision market, CMOS cameras are expected to represent half of the sales in 2015 and to take over about 80 percent of the machine vision market in 2020. Today, CMOS-based cameras represent only 20 percent of the global market in units, but 80 percent of the R&D of camera manufacturers’ investments.

CMOSIS continues to apply TowerJazz’s advanced CMOS image sensor technology to meet the market’s growing demands and to expand its relationship with TowerJazz to collaborate on its next generation of CMOS image sensors. CMOSIS addresses the need for image sensors used in consumer, industrial, medical and automotive applications such as those used in movie and TV, traffic monitoring and motion control, among others.

CMOSIS’ in-house developed CIS technology, along with TowerJazz’s proven experience in the imaging field and its own CIS technology developed in-house, enables optimized designs with superior performance. TowerJazz’s process features low dark current, low noise and high dynamic range and its skilled experts support the customization of pixels per customer requirements and project needs.