Sharp announced a tiny new CCD digital camera module for use in handheld device applications such as smartphones and PDAs. According to Sharp, the LZ0P3721 measures just .53 x .43 x .38 inches thick. Additionally, the company announced a second model, the LZ0P3726, approximately the same size, which features built-in “macro”… functionality. Both camera modules feature “high-powered electronic zoom” capabilities.

According to Sharp, worldwide demand for camera-equipped mobile phones is growing. These cameras currently fall into two main categories — the 100,000 pixel “CIF class” and the 300,000 pixel “VGA class” (300,000 pixels) — both of have mainly been used for emailing pictures to friends, or to take photo memos. But with these images increasingly being printed out or transferred to a PC for viewing, it has become apparent that higher picture resolutions are needed, Sharp said. However, for these applications, the higher resolution cameras are needed, but ones that do not increase the size of the phone.

To develop the tiny megapixel camera modules, Sharp had to combine a 1/4-inch mega-pixel CCD with a signal processing DSP, a CCD periphery IC, lenses, and passive components, along with smear-resistant Frame Interline Transfer (FIT) technology, resulting in a compact megapixel CCD camera module with high resolution output capabilities.

Both camera modules will be sampled during September 2003, and will available in production quantities this in October, Sharp said.

 
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