OmniVision today introduced the OV2720, the world’s first 1/6-inch CMOS sensor capable of recording 1080p video at 30 frames per second. The new sensor is designed for notebook, netbook, webcam and video conferencing applications. Based on OmniVision's 1.4 micron OmniBSI backside illumination technology, the new 1080p sensor delivers video conference quality HD video recording in a small enough form factor to meet the module size and height requirements of today's thin notebook designs.

"Consumer demand for HD video has never been greater. Display formats are moving to a 16 by 9 aspect ratio, TV broadcast is embracing HD, and social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook are supporting HD," said Nick Nam, product marketing manager at OmniVision. "With the OV2720, OmniVision continues to lead the industry in bringing to market innovative, high performance HD solutions, addressing the growing demand for the HD video-enabled devices of the YouTube generation. With the broadest portfolio of HD video products in the industry, we enable our customers to find the right solution for their price, performance and size requirements."

The 1.4-micron OmniBSI pixel achieves best-in-class low light sensitivity of 680-mV/lux-sec, while enabling extremely thin modules with a z-height of 3.5 mm. Moreover, the OV2720 can use binning to further increase its low-light performance to double that of similar-sized VGA sensors. The sensor also offers exposure control, white balance and defective pixel canceling.

The OV2720 is currently sampling with multiple tier-one customers and is slated to go into mass production in June 2010. Systems based on the new sensor for 1080p video chat should come to the market in Q3 2010.