iPad imaging devices revealed by Chipworks

A team of researchers from Chipworks (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) has torn down the Apple iPad to reveal the imaging devices that have been incorporated into it.

The 5 Mpixel back illuminated CMOS image sensor is new to the third generation iPad, but the researchers at Chipworks say that it seems likely that Apple has simply re-used the Omnivision (Santa Clara, CA, USA) OV5650 CMOS image sensor from the iPhone 4.

This 5 Mpixel camera features 1.75 µm pixels, and supports 720p HD video mode at 60 frames per second and 1080p at 30 frames per second. Apple also touts the same specification for the new iPad.

The second CMOS image sensor inside the new iPad is also a design win for Omnivision. This sensor -- the OV297AA -- is a 0.3 Mpixel, 3.0 µm pixel pitch device. Chipworks researchers have seen the device previous employed in the iPod Nano and the iPad 2.

The researchers say that, yet again, Apple is “recycling” as many devices as they can to produce the new iPad, a technique that keeps their costs and technological risks low.

More information is available here.

-- by Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design