High dynamic range CMOS camera for automotive applications

Abstract

We have developed a CMOS camera featuring high sensitivity and high dynamic range which makes it highly suitable for automotive applications. The camera exhibits a 768×76 pixel resolution and a dynamic range of 118dB at 50fps. The measured noise equivalent exposure is 66pJ/cm2 at a wavelength of 635nm which corresponds to 4.9mlx at an integration time of 20ms. The centrepiece of the camera is a novel CMOS image sensor chip integrated in a standard 0.5μm CMOS technology. The image sensor employs multi-exposure principle and was used to build an automotive camera, which contains the CMOS image sensor, camera electronics, a 2/3 inch lens and an IEEE 1394 Firewire Interface. This interface enables transfer of user-defined sub-frames yielding 512×256 pixels which exhibit 118dB dynamic range at 50fps and featuring 64dB dynamic range when acquired at a single integration time.