The South Korean giant Samsung has just presented an unprecedented sensor; related to the Times of Flight (ToF) technology, called “ISOCELL Vizion 33D”.
Samsung has again changed its mind about the ToF technology to be included onboard its top-of-the-range smartphones, and now it seems to be ready to present the new ISOCELL Vizion 33D on the market. Yes, you read that right, it’s not a typo. This is precisely the name that Samsung has chosen for its new ToF sensor. The double “3” has been inserted for the sole purpose of enhancing and emphasizing the powerful depth detection capabilities.
Samsung: the characteristics of the new ISOCELL Vizion 33D
Initially, during the first months of this year, it seemed that Samsung had officially thrown in the towel in this regard, abandoning once and for all the sector of the Times of Fight modules to be included in the photographic compartments of its flagships.
Now, the company says the ISOCELL Vizion 33D sensor has been optimized to provide the best photographic; and AR / VR experiences, as well as 3D scans and bokeh effects in videos. The ISOCELL appears to be able to track moving objects with low latency thanks to a 4-tap demodulation system, and 120fps support. The 4-touch demodulation system allows each sensor pixel to receive up to four phase signals simultaneously at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees: this means that the chip is able to generate a depth image with only one click.
It is unclear whether the Galaxy S21 series will use the ISOCELL Vision 33D. However, this sensor appears to have been built for multiple applications, including mobile devices. Low power consumption is essential for the sensor of a mobile camera, and the ISOCELL Vision 33D has a total power consumption of less than 400mW for both IR illumination and ToF technology. Meanwhile, we report that the element is also capable of supporting the autofocus of the main camera.
Among the technical specifications we mention the high resolution (for a ToF sensor) of 640 x 480, 7um pixels; and a distance range of 0.2-5.0 meters; this also features Deep Trench Isolation (DTI) technology to reduce pixel crosstalk; as well as Backside Scattering (BST) technology to improve the quantum efficiency of the sensor.
Ultimately, Samsung claims the ISOCELL Vision 33D sensor is fast and accurate enough to enable superior 3D facial authentication for mobile payments. This fact leads us to think that the company is considering using the chipset as a selfie/face authentication sensor for the near future or for new premium Galaxy smartphones. We’ll see.
