OMNIVISION’s New 50MP Image Sensor brings Industry-leading low light still image and Ultra High Dynamic range video to Rear Facing Smartphone Cameras

OMNIVISION, a global developer of semiconductor solutions, including advanced digital imaging, analog and touch & display technology, announced the OV50E image sensor, providing the industry’s best low light image and high dynamic range (HDR) video capturing capabilities to rear-facing main cameras in high-end and mainstream smartphones. The OV50E features staggered HDR and DCG™ technology for improved HDR and crop zoom support, 100% quad phase detection (QPD) for enhanced autofocus, and better low light performance over previous-generation image sensors. The new OV50E combines 50MP resolution and 1.0‑micron pixel size in a 1/1.5‑inch optical format.

The OV50E is equipped with staggered HDR and the patented DCG™ technology to extend dynamic range and reduce motion artifacts in challenging lighting conditions, and together with a built-in dual conversion gain combination, provides single exposure HDR support. The maximum dynamic range reaches more than 100 dB. In addition, OV50E’s second-generation QPD enables 2×2 phase detection autofocus (PDAF) across the sensor’s entire image array for 100% coverage, resulting in improved distance calculation, faster autofocus and better low-light performance. Premium image quality is further enabled by the combination of on-chip remosaic for the QPD color filter array to full Bayer resolution.

“Video consumption is quickly becoming the predominant source of information for people, and smartphones are replacing professional equipment for video capture. However, smartphones have historically not been great for zooming,” said James Liu, senior product marketing manager, OMNIVISION. “Our OV50E provides video HDR crop zoom support, which allows users to seamlessly switch between full and smaller resolution with full HDR capabilities. Adding the industry’s best low light still image performance gives consumers one phone that does it all.”

The OV50E image sensor provides the best low-light performance in its class, via the unique combination of a large 1.0‑micron pixel size, built-in advanced noise reduction technology, and high gain mode support. The OV50E can achieve up to 64x analog gain for full resolution, or 256x analog gain for 4 cell binning resolution. Built on OMNIVISION’s PureCel®Plus‑S stacked die technology, the OV50E can also use near-pixel binning to output a 12.5MP image or 4K2K video with four times the sensitivity, yielding 2.0 micron-equivalent performance for preview and video. In either case, the OV50E can consistently capture the highest quality images, as well as enabling 2x digital crop zoom with smaller resolution and fast mode switch.

Output formats include 50MP, or 8K video, with QPD autofocus at 30 frames per second (fps); 12.5MP with QPD autofocus at 60 fps; 4K2K video with QPD autofocus at 60 fps; and 1080p at 240 fps. The OV50E supports the CPHY/DPHY MIPI interface and dual DOVDD 1.8/1.2V.