New Flagship OmniVision OV50A Released with SLR-level PDA

OmniVision OV50A

OmniVision Technology today announced a 50 megapixel 1/1.55″ smartphone CMOS – OmniVision OV50A. Only revealed that the sensor will be available in the second quarter of 2021, but no specific customer was indicated. The sensor is built using OmniVision’s PureCel Plus-S stacked chip technology, with 1.0μm per pixel, supports Quad Phase Detection (QPD) focusing, and achieves a 2×2 coverage of 100% PDAF, claiming to offer “DSLR-class” autofocus.

One of the biggest selling points for mobile phones is camera performance, and they have been steadily closing the gap with DSLR cameras for years. Our QPD autofocus technology now makes that gap even smaller, by bringing DSLR level autofocus performance to smartphone cameras.

said Arun Jayaseelan, staff marketing manager at OmniVision.

The QPD (Quad Phase Detection) autofocus technology is described as operating differently from Canon’s Dual Pixel AF technology. While Canon has only two pixels on the left and right under a single microlens, OmniVision pairs the four pixels of each microlens diagonally to achieve focus. The advantage of this design is that the four diagonal pixels provide cross-shaped (horizontal and vertical) sensitivity for consistent performance regardless of the orientation of the camera and the subject.

The OV50A also supports quadruple pixels with 12.5-megapixel equivalent, 2.0μm, Staggered HDR, 8K 30fps, 4K 90fps, 1080P 240fps, and 720P 480fps video, among others. Officially, the video output can reach up to 3.5Gbps through the sensor’s CPHY MIPI interface. Additionally, this sensor offers excellent HDR through 2- and 3-exposure staggered HDR timing, along with selective conversion gain for the optimum balance between low-light image quality and HDR.

OmniVision OV50A Specifications and Features in detail (Click to Expand)

Source 1, Source 2