OmniVision Unveils Color Sensor at Mobile World Congress

BARCELONA, Spain -- PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) event, OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) , a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, unveiled its latest low-voltage, high-performance 1/4-inch 3 megapixel color sensor. Featuring OmniVision's high-sensitivity 1.75 µm OmniPixel3-HS architecture, the OV3650 delivers double the sensitivity (960mV/lux-sec) of competing devices. The OmniPixel3-HS architecture is the most advanced generation of OmniVision's family of front side illumination (FSI) architectures, providing significantly enhanced image capture under very low lighting conditions. The OV3650 provides an ideal compact solution for mobile phones, notebook, webcam and other applications that require exceptional low-light performance without the need for flash.

According to third-party industry analyst Techno Systems Research, 1/4 in. form factor camera solutions represent the "sweet spot" for mobile phone applications and are projected to represent up to 55% of the total volume from 2009 to 2012*. The RAW OV3650 sensor expands OmniVision's 3 megapixel offerings to a total of four devices, providing a complete portfolio to address anticipated demand.

The OV3650 provides the full functionality of a single chip QXGA (2048 x 1536) camera with full-frame, sub-sampled and windowed 10-bit images in various formats. The OV3650 provides an image array capable of operating at up to 15 frames per second in QXGA resolution and all required image processing functions, including exposure control, white balance, and defective pixel canceling, are programmable through the SCCB interface. The OV3650 eliminates image contamination issues such as fixed pattern noise, smearing, and blooming produces a clean, fully stable, vivid color image.

For customized information purposes, the OV3650 includes a one-time programmable memory. The OV3650 has a one lane MIPI interface and a traditional parallel digital video port. The sensor's parallel port can also be used to communicate to an external secondary camera (digital video port) while providing continued output through the MIPI interface.

Availability
The OV3650 is immediately available for customer sampling. Volume production is expected in the second calendar quarter of 2009.

About OmniVision
OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ:OVTI) is a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions. Its award-winning CMOS imaging technology enables superior image quality in many of today's consumer and commercial applications, including mobile phones, notebook and webcams, digital still and video cameras, security and surveillance, automotive and medical imaging systems.