MT9V032C12STC

The MT9V032C12STC is a 1/3-inch wide-VGA format CMOS active-pixel digital image sensor with global shutter from ON Semiconductor (originally developed by Aptina Imaging). Specifically designed for demanding surveillance and industrial imaging applications, this sensor features global shutter technology that captures all pixels simultaneously, eliminating motion artifacts that occur with rolling shutter sensors. The sensor has an active imaging array of 752 horizontal by 480 vertical pixels (approximately 361K pixels) with 6µm × 6µm pixel size. The large pixel size provides good light sensitivity, with a responsivity of 4.8 V/lux-sec at 550 nm. The sensor supports both linear mode (>55 dB dynamic range) and high dynamic range (HDR) mode (>80-100 dB), enabling operation in challenging lighting conditions with both bright highlights and dark shadows. The MT9V032C12STC (C=Color, 12=version, STC=ceramic CLCC color version) integrates sophisticated on-chip camera functions including 2×2 and 4×4 binning for improved low-light sensitivity, windowing for region-of-interest operation with higher frame rates, and column/row mirroring. Control is through a simple two-wire serial interface. Output options include a parallel digital video interface (8/10-bit) and a serial LVDS interface for longer distance transmission. The sensor also supports stereo camera operation, where a master sensor can merge its own data with data from a slave sensor into a single serial LVDS stream. Packaged in a 48-pin ceramic CLCC (Ceramic Leadless Chip Carrier), the sensor offers robust mechanical and thermal performance suitable for industrial and surveillance environments.

The MT9V032C12STC operates as a CMOS image sensor with global shutter architecture: 1) Pixel Array and Global Shutter: Unlike rolling shutter sensors that expose row-by-row, the MT9V032’s global shutter exposes all pixels simultaneously. Each pixel contains a photodiode and a storage node. During exposure, all photodiodes integrate charge at the same time. At the end of the exposure period, the charge is simultaneously transferred from all photodiodes to their respective storage nodes, which are shielded from light. This simultaneous capture eliminates motion distortion (skew, wobble, partial exposure) when imaging fast-moving objects. 2) Color Filter Array: The color version (C12STC) has an RGB Bayer pattern color filter array over the pixel array, with red, green, and blue filters arranged in a repeating pattern. Green pixels are twice as numerous as red or blue to match human vision’s higher sensitivity to green light. 3) Analog Signal Chain: After the global shutter transfer, pixel data from the storage nodes is read out row by row through analog column circuits. Each column has a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit to reduce reset noise, followed by programmable gain amplification. 4) ADC Conversion: 10-bit column-parallel analog-to-digital converters digitize each pixel value simultaneously per row, achieving fast readout speeds. 5) Digital Processing: On-chip digital processing includes black level correction, and the output formatter can output data in various formats and bit depths. 6) High Dynamic Range (HDR) Mode: In HDR mode, the sensor captures multiple exposures of the same scene (dual exposure) and combines them digitally to extend the effective dynamic range beyond what a single exposure can achieve. 7) Output: The digitized video data can be output through either the parallel interface (for direct connection to nearby processors) or the LVDS serial interface (for longer cable runs and stereo applications). 8) Control Interface: All sensor parameters – exposure time, gain, frame rate, windowing, binning, HDR mode – are configured through the two-wire serial control interface.

• Security and surveillance cameras with high-speed motion capture
• Industrial machine vision and automated optical inspection
• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and traffic monitoring
• Barcode and 2D code scanners
• Stereo vision systems for depth perception and 3D reconstruction
• High-speed motion analysis and sports capture
• Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) in automotive
• Drone and robotics navigation vision systems