Edinburgh, Scotland-based Vision Group Plc says the introduction of its monochrome medium resolution CMOS sensors and products will increase picture quality and performance for the camera-on- a-chip. The 5402 range of products incorporate new pixel architecture and analog design techniques that conform to both US and European standards. The company, which was established in 1990 and went public two years ago, believes it is able to offer customers a smaller, cheaper and less power-consuming alternative to Charge-Coupled Device boards. Vision has seen particular success in the toy, desktop conferencing and digital still camera markets in the past, but looks for the 5402 to be most prominent in the toy, automotive, biometrics, bar code and security markets, because of its lack of color. Joan Montgomerie, marketing communications manager at Vision said the chip is easy to integrate because everything is on the one chip, as opposed to the CCD board which typically consists of three to nine chips. She said the company, which employs 75 people, is confident the 5402 will do well, but added: Things are moving all the time, so we don’t want to hang our hats on it too highly. The products come with sensors for high volume original equipment manufacturer users, camera modules and mini cameras. Although the new chips are available now, Vision has pointed out that they take 16 weeks to be delivered, because they are made to order. Vision has also announced it has been granted a 1997 Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement, primarily for its CMOS imaging technology.
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