“CCD image sensors continue to provide the critical image quality required in many key applications,” said Chris McNiffe, Vice President, Image Sensor Business unit at ON Semiconductor. “The enhanced performance available from the new KAI-08051 Image Sensor reflects our on-going commitment to improve the capability of our existing products and to deliver the industry’s most advanced image sensors using both CCD and CMOS technology.

The KAI-08051 Image Sensor shares the same advanced 5.5 micron pixel architecture, 8 megapixel resolution, 15 frame per second readout rate, and 4/3 optical format as the existing KAI-08050 Image Sensor, but improves key performance parameters through the use of an improved amplifier design, newly optimized microlens structure, and new color filter pigments in both Bayer and Sparse color configurations.

The KAI-08051 is backward compatible with the KAI-08050, requiring at most minor modifications to the firmware used in existing camera designs. This allows the new image sensor to retain “Plug-and-Play” interoperability with the full family of 5.5-micron Interline Transfer CCD devices, enabling a single camera design to support image sensors ranging in resolution from 1 to 29 megapixels.

The KAI-08051 Image Sensor is now in production and is available in Monochrome, Bayer Color, and Sparse Color configurations. An evaluation kit is available that allows the imaging performance of this new device to be quickly and easily examined in detail without the need to develop a full camera design.