Toshiba Introduces World's Thinnest 13MP Smartphone/Tablet Camera Module

One of the major selling points of new smartphones is introducing more powerful hardware in a thinner form factor. As such, common smartphone technologies are constantly being innovated upon in order to make them better and more compact.

Typically, these improvements come in the form of thinner display technology, batteries and processors.

Mobile camera technology, meanwhile, seems to have fewer breakthroughs, while devices with significantly more powerful cameras, like the Nokia 808 PureView, are significantly larger because of this.

But Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) this week introduced the industry's thinnest CMOS image sensor camera module with high resolution 13 megapixel imaging.

The new module, called the TCM9930MD, is designed specifically to appear in the next generation of ultra-thin smartphones and tablets. With the help of an advanced image pre-processing LSI companion chip and a refined module structure, this module sports a profile of only 4.7 mm in height.

“Toshiba once again proves its technical expertise in the development of this ultra-low height module enabling customers to create the thin, attractive mobile products that consumers have come to expect,” said Andrew Burt, vice president of the Analog and Imaging Business Unit, System LSI Group at TAEC, in a statement. “Our strategy of continuous innovation and enhancement to the TAEC systems offering, especially for the camera/imaging markets, provides the technology solutions that will drive thinner mobile devices without compromising picture quality or performance.”

The method typically used to lower camera module height is to modify the optical lens, which often has the unfortunate side effect of dropping resolution around the corners of an image. The TCM9930MD helps to compensate for this resolution drop by way of its image pre-processing LSI companion chip, which offers distortion correction and performs image resolution reconstruction.

The TCM9930MD also uses a flip-chip image sensor structure to lower its height. This method allows for a larger number of interconnects with shorter distances than wire, reducing assembling area and packaging height.