Toshiba Announces Bright Mode, High Speed Video Technology for CMOS Image Sensors for Smartphones and Tablets

January 7, 2013

Enables 240 fps Equivalent High Speed Full HD Video Capture TOKYO Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced the development of Bright Mode, a CMOS image sensor technology that allows smartphones and tablets to record Full HD video at 240 frames per second (fps), the industrys highest frame rate[1]. Bright Mode realizes high quality slow motion playback.

High speed video recording requires a high frame rate with short exposure time, which results in underexposed images. Bright Mode technology secures double the exposure time by adopting interlaced[2] video output, not the progressive[3] output that standard CMOS sensors use. Bright Mode also employs charge binning[4], which doubles the electrical charge of each pixel, resulting in an image four times brighter than that from a CMOS sensor without Bright Mode. The technology also realizes 240 fps equivalent Full HD video recording. Toshiba will also provide an interlace-progressive conversion program that enables users to offer high quality progressive video with low deterioration, without changing frame rate.

CMOS image sensors incorporating Bright Mode can playback high quality video in slow motion at one-eighth standard speed[5], bringing new dimensions to imaging.

Toshibas Bright Mode technology contributes to a wide variety of video applications, such as high-speed recording slow motion video, and continuous shooting. Sample sensors incorporating Bright Mode will be available in Q1 2014.

Notes:

[1] Research by Toshiba, as of January 7, 2014.

[2] Interlaced video system divides frame data into odd horizontal lines in a frame (odd field) and even horizontal lines in a frame (even field), and outputs each field by turns.

[3] Sequential scan system that outputs data of all pixels in each frame.

[4] Doubling the electrical charge of the pixel by putting the electrical charge of two pixels together, when the image is downsized by half.

[5] When replaying Full HD (1080p) slow video at 30 fps.

Output frame rate example Sensor output mode

(Output pixels) Normal mode

(Progressive output) Bright mode

(Interlaced output)

(After progressive conversion processing)

Full-HD (1920 1080) 120 fps 240 fps

HD (1280 720) 120 fps 240 fps

WVGA (800 480) 240 fps 480 fps

VGA (640 480) 240 fps 480 fps

QVGA (320 240) 480 fps 900 fps

Customer Inquiries

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Tel: +81-44-548-2282

LINK:	http://www.semicon.toshiba.co.jp/eng/profile/news/newsrelease/sensor/t...
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