PRELIMINARY

®

Low Cost Digital Camera (LCDC) Chipset

CDSTV0680F-C: Rev 3.0; Mar.2000

This is preliminary information on a new product now in development or undergoing evaluation. Details are subject to change without notice.

Commercial in Confidence

1

STV0680A + VV6444/6410/6500

DESCRIPTION

STMicroelectronics (ST), Imaging Division (formerly VLSI

VISION Ltd.), has utilised its extensive experience in design-

ing imaging sensors for the digital still camera market to

develop chipsets for modular systems which will provide the

core of a highly cost-competitive new standard in consumer

digital stills cameras (DSC).

The Low Cost Digital Camera chipsets from ST, incorporat-

ing a CMOS imaging sensor and STV0680A co-processor

(formerly DCA1 ) enable camera manufacturers to offer an

end product which is genuinely price competitive with tradi-

tional ‘point and shoot’ film-based cameras.

The chipset provides the basis of an easy-to-use, user

friendly camera, which will be equally adaptable for use by

children and adults for stills photography or dual-mode use

(i.e. Digital stills while untethered, and videoconferencing

from the same camera).

Incorporating a wide range of features, the STV0680A

chipset offers exceptional performance at a very competitive

price point. ST’s aim is to enable manufacturers to offer fully

functional DSC products to the end consumer for between

$50 and $100. An evaluation kit (EVK) and reference design

manual are available, as well as standard TWAIN and Video

for Windows drivers. Alternatively, a software development

kit (SDK) allows access to ST colour processing algorithms

under licence, to develop OEM software.

The chipset incorporates ST’s high performance VV6444/

6410 CIF (352 x 288 pixel) or VV6500 VGA (640 x 480 pixel)

resolution CMOS sensors. The complete camera will have

20 picture storage capacity for CIF resolution or 80 for QCIF

resolution, when using 16MBit memory. When using 64MBit

memory, it will have 26 picture storage capacity for VGA res-

olution or 106 for QVGA resolution. A standby mode which

allows full picture retention at extremely low system power

consumption gives a battery life of up to several months.

An example upload and colour processing time for a CIF

image to the PC is 0.3 seconds when the USB interface is

used, and the chipset also offers a high frame rate tethered

USB video mode (dependant on PC and USB loading).

The chipset supports a 2x 7-segment display showing num-

ber of pictures remaining, a low battery indicator, and opera-

tion mode, as well as a buzzer indicating picture taken,

camera full, and self-timer countdown.

A CMOS solution gives manufacturers inherent benefits, pro-

viding a highly integrated compact solution which has a low

system cost, is straightforward to implement, and has low

power consumption, giving long battery life.

KEY FEATURES

•

CIF (352 x 288) or VGA (640 x 480) resolution sensor

•

Using 64MBit memory, 80 picture storage capacity in

camera (CIF), 26 (VGA), or 320 (QCIF).

•

Using 16MBit memory, 20 picture storage capacity, in

camera (CIF), or 80 (QCIF)

•

USB/RS232 interface options

•

Evaluation kit available

•

Low power consumption (typically 75mA) for complete

camera and low system cost per pixel

•

High speed picture upload with USB

•

USB tethered video mode gives a QCIF resolution

videoconferencing camera with VfW support

•

‘Continuous’ mode for capturing image sequences (while

untethered) and downloading to AVI file format

•

Memory refresh allows picture retention when camera is

in standby mode with very low current consumption

•

TWAIN/Video for Windows driver support

•

Numeric LCD panel supported

•

Colour processing and pixel defect detection/correction

software available under license as SDK for development

of OEM software. The license to use the colour algorithm

(embedded in the PC driver software) is included in the

price of the chipset.

PRODUCT FORMATS

Chipsets: For manufacturers wishing to design their own

cameras ST offers chipsets combining the colour CMOS

sensor with a companion processor.

An evaluation kit, including PC demo software, and a

comprehensive reference design manual are available,

including schematics and bills of materials.

Modules: For high volume OEM companies, lensed camera

modules are available to the basic specification outlined, but

geared to the customer’s individual requirements, subject to

commercial agreement with ST.

SOFTWARE

Driver software is available to support both USB and RS232

interface, included in TWAIN and Video for Windows drivers

(VfW through USB only, WIN98). An AVI creator application

allows creation of video files from untethered ‘continuous’

mode images.

ST

colour

processing

and

defect

detection/correction

software is supplied under licence agreement, as part of a

Software Development Kit (SDK). This runs on the host PC