Seems we don’t go more than a few weeks without hearing about another new, advanced camera technology showing up in camera phones. First it was increased pixel counts, followed by optical zooms, then it was improved optics and face tracking technology all making headlines in recent weeks. Well, you can now add anti-shake to that growing list as California-based InvenSense has developed an image stabilization technology specifically for the camera phone market. We are told the technology can be used in digital still cameras as well.
InvenSense’s single-chip IDG-1000 gyroscope innovation utilizes MEMS technology to provide what they tell us is, “the world’s only integrated dual-axis solution with the smallest footprint at very competitive prices.”
InvenSense explains that their IDG-1000 gyroscope allows, “DSC and camera phone manufacturers to develop cameras with higher mega pixel and optical zoom capabilities, without compromising image quality.”
Sanyo is the fist manufacturer to hop on board the gyroscope train and the company recently told us, “Image stabilization is becoming one of the most sought-after features by consumers when purchasing a camera. InvenSense’s integrated dual-axis gyroscope is a key enabler of this feature and is already used within our current models. We have also chosen InvenSense to be the supplier of the gyroscope for many of our camera models (both DSC and camera phones) next year.”
InvenSense also told us they are expecting to add some major camera phone manufacturers by early Spring 2007 to the list of companies signing on for the IDG-1000.
As the camera phone industry continues to bring models to market with the aforementioned increased pixel density and optical zoom range, subtle hand movements become problematic, particularly in low light settings, resulting in poor image quality. InvenSense explains that camera phone manufacturers need high-performance, small form factor gyroscopes to measure and correct natural hand jitter in order to provide high-quality pictures from cam phones. The IDG-1000 was developed with this problem in mind.
All this would certainly lead one to conclude that the camera phone market will be a most interesting one to follow in 2007.
