OmniVision and Nextchip Partner on Automotive Viewing Camera Solution for Low-End and Midrange Vehicles

By Tiera Oliver

Associate Editor

Embedded Computing Design

January 18, 2021

News

OmniVision and Nextchip announced during CES a joint solution that is pre-tuned to provide high quality images for rearview cameras (RVCs), surround-view systems (SVS), and e-mirrors in low-end and midrange vehicles.

OmniVision and Nextchip announced during CES a joint solution that is pre-tuned to provide high quality images for rearview cameras (RVCs), surround-view systems (SVS), and e-mirrors in low-end and midrange vehicles.

Per the company, this solution includes OmniVision’s OX03C10, which is the only automotive image sensor to combine a large 3.0 micron pixel, high dynamic range (HDR) of up to 140dB for minimized motion artifacts, and LED flicker mitigation (LFM) performance. Nextchip’s NVP2650D image signal processor (ISP), which integrates two NVP2650 ISP cores in a single package, can simultaneously process the captures from two OX03C10 sensors, providing dual and full LFM image outputs at 60 frames per second (fps) using a single ISP. Additionally, the NVP2650D provides a combined 10/12-bit compressed RAW output and 24-bit uncompressed HDR output designed to further enhance the image quality for scenes with contrasting light and dark areas.

This sensor’s integration of OmniVision’s HALE (HDR and LFM engine) combination algorithm provides ideal HDR and LFM performance simultaneously, while its Deep Well dual conversion gain technology is designed to reduce motion artifacts. Additionally, OmniVision’s split-pixel LFM technology with four captures provides suitable performance over the automotive temperature range.

According to the company, the OX03C10 is also the first viewing image sensor with HDR and LFM that can deliver 1920x1280p resolution at 60 fps, enabling ideal design flexibility and camera-view switching for drivers. Also, according to the company, the solution features the lowest power consumption of any 2.5MP LFM image sensor, 25% lower than the nearest competitor, along with the industry’s smallest package size, enabling the placement of cameras that continuously run at 60 fps in even tight spaces.

OmniVision’s PureCel Plus-S stacked architecture enables pixel performance advantages in the OX03C10 over non-stacked technology, in addition to a smaller die and lower power consumption. For example, 3D stacking allowed OmniVision to boost pixel and dark current performance, resulting in a 20% improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio over the prior generation of its 2.5MP automotive viewing sensors.

Per the company, this joint solution provides the automotive industry’s lowest power consumption for automotive viewing cameras with 120db HDR and full 2.5MP resolution at 60 fps. By owning the ISP core, Nextchip can deliver the right image quality to each customer based on its knowledge and experience in image processing. Additionally, the NVP2650D ISP offers 4-lane, 2-channel MIPI output, at 1 Gbps for each lane, along with support for a virtual channel.

OmniVision’s OX03C10 image sensor is available for sampling, and Nextchip’s NVP2650D ISP is in mass production. Both companies’ devices provide advanced ASIL functional safety and AEC-Q100 Grade 2 certification for automotive applications

Additionally, please visit OmniVision’s virtual meeting portal to schedule a meeting and view demo videos during CES: www.ovt.com/news-events/events-vip/futureinsight.

For more information, visit: www.nextchip.com or www.ovt.com

Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor for Embedded Computing Design, is responsible for web content edits, product news, and constructing stories. She also assists with newsletter updates as well as contributing and editing content for ECD podcasts and the ECD YouTube channel. Before working at ECD, Tiera graduated from Northern Arizona University where she received her B.S. in journalism and political science and worked as a news reporter for the university’s student led newspaper, The Lumberjack.

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