CMOS
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
Scott Moody
CMOS Beginnings
1998 CMOS Emerged as alternative image capture
technology
2000 Foveon Inc developed X3 technology
2002 First Widespread use of CMOS in high end
digital cameras
Foveon Inc Contribution
Before X3 developed sensor technology was
.35 to .50 micron technology
Company’s were trying to develop .25 micron technology
Foveon developed a .18 micron technology
Smaller diodes mean higher resolution and quality in the
same space
From Film to CMOS
X3 Foveon
Benefits of CMOS
CMOS manufacturing process very similar to that of traditional
computer processors
CCD very specialist and costly to produce
CMOS capable of doing multitasking
CCD just registers light
CMOS very low power consumption
CCD high energy process
Mosaic
CCD
X3
CMOS
Mosaic
CCD
X3
CMOS
Multitasking
CCD
Image Processing
CMOS