Samsung ISOCELL Auto Image Sensor for Car

2021: ISOCELL Auto 4AC View

On July 14, 2021, the company Samsung Electronics introduced its image sensor for cars ISOCELL Auto 4AC. It is designed to improve the image that comes to the screen in a car from cameras. This technology will help drivers control transport the vehicle in poor lighting.

Built-in HDR support provides the sensor with a dynamic range of 120 dB, it is also equipped with LED flicker migration (LFM), which is especially relevant for round-robin monitors (SVM) and rear-view cameras (RVC) operating at high resolution (1280 × 960). This sensor is Samsung's first image processing solution optimized for use in cars.

A sharp change in road lighting, for example, when leaving the tunnel, can interfere with the driver, since it will take several seconds for the eyes to adapt to the conditions. In addition, the flickering of LED lamps in headlamps or road signs, as well as in street lights and traffic lights, is becoming increasingly noticeable on the camera screens of automobile systems.

The ISOCELL Auto 4AC sensor enables safer driving and expands the field of view with CornerPixel technology. This technology uses a special pixel arrangement, which reduces the perceived brightness of LEDs operating at frequencies above 90 Hz. To do this, two photodiodes are placed inside the zone responsible for each pixel of the obtained image: one with a size of 3 microns for processing images with a low illumination level, and the second with a size of 1 micron - on the side of the large photodiode - for processing brighter images. Thanks to two photodiodes per pixel that capture images with different exposures at the same time, the sensor allows you to obtain an extended dynamic range (HDR) of up to 120 dB with minimal blur, providing smoother transitions between dark and light zones and displaying the road situation with better detail.

To minimize flicker from LEDs, the exposure time of the smaller photodiode can be increased, as a result of which the flicker from the pulsating LEDs will not be visible on the camera screen. All this allows you to get more accurate images of objects with built-in LED backlight, which should be recognized by automotive systems.

The ISOCELL Auto 4AC sensor meets the strict requirements of the AEC-Q100 Grade 2 standard, including operating at temperatures from -40 ° C to 125 ° C, and has already entered mass production.