Sony is going to Make Sensors for Cars Now!!

[Jay]

Sony is one of the world leaders in the image sensor manufacturing market, if you were not aware, and now they are about to take over the automotive sector as well! Automotive you say?? Yup the cars need sensors to see the objects in the road before you do, and Sony has the best sensitivity sensor for the job, thanks to a recently developed car specific sensor!



Thanks to Nikkei for reporting the story, and SonyAlphaRumors for bring it to out attention This is great news for Sony!

TOKYO -- Sony plans to offer image sensors for automotive cameras, aiming to tap a new growth market amid the drive toward smart cars and driverless vehicles.
The company has developed a sensor 10 times as sensitive to light as existing chips, allowing for easier detection of objects in dark environments. The sensor can provide a color display of the surrounding area even in moonlight, enabling it to detect obstacles more readily than a driver can.
Sony will start mass-producing the sensor through a chipmaking subsidiary and begin sales to automotive equipment manufacturers in the latter half of 2015. The component is expected to find its way into car-mounted devices in 2016.

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Jay

[Jay]

It looks like some more info has come out about these new ultra sensitive sensors for the automobiles Sony Press Re-lease >>

Check out this sample photo and specs courtesy of Image-Sensor-World:

Sony Commercializes the World's Highest Sensitivity^*1 CMOS Image Sensor for Automotive Cameras

- Sensors capable of capturing high-resolution color images even in low, 0.005 lux light conditions equivalent to nighttime levels -



October 16, 2014
Revised on 3:00 pm October 16, 2014


Tokyo, Japan - October 16, 2014 - Sony Corporation (hereafter "Sony") announces the commercialization of the "IMX224MQV" CMOS image sensor for automotive cameras, which boasts the world's highest sensitivity levels^*1 of any image sensor of its kind. This sensor is capable of capturing high-resolution color images even in light conditions as low as 0.005 lux, a level equivalent to that of a moonless night and one that is far below illumination levels under a star-filled night sky. The "IMX224MQV" is set^*2 to become Sony's first image sensor for automotive cameras to meet the requirements of the "AEC-Q100"^*3 electronic component reliability tests.

In July, 2013, Sony gained "ISO/TS 16949" certification, a technical specification and quality management standard for the automotive industry. "IMX224MQV" is the starting point from which Sony will proactively develop CMOS image sensors for automotive use, a market projected to grow significantly due to the trending towards and advances made in automated vehicles.

*1: For type 1/3 image sensors with HD or higher resolution. Based on Sony research. (As of the announcement date, October 16, 2014)
*2: Stress test qualification of the AEC (Automotive Electronics Council) for electronic components.
*3: Upon its mass-production in December, 2015.