Toshiba will start mass producing a new 20 mega pixel, 1.2 micrometer back-illuminated CMOS image sensor for mainstream compact digital cameras this summer.

The Japanese company has implemented the back side illumination (BSI) technology to realize image pixels with a pitch of 1.2 microns, and to pack 20 million of them into a 1/2.3-inch sensor.

The TCM5115CL achieves a 15% improvement in full well capacity - the amount of charge an individual pixel can hold before saturating - against Toshiba's previous generation 16MP sensor (pixel size = 1.34µm).

TCM5115CL is designed to meet the demands of high quality, fast frame rate image capture and HD video recording supporting smooth, slow motion playback, and delivers frame rates of 60fps at 1080p and 100fps at 720p.



Toshiba will begin mass production of the new "TCM5115CL" sensor in the summer of 2013, with sample shipments to begin in January.

Specifications

Model: TCM5115CL
Optical format: 1/2.3-inch
Number of pixels: 20 megapixels
Pixel size: 1.2 micrometer

Frame rate:

30 frames/sec (20 mega-pixel 10-bit RAW)
60 frames per sec / (1080P)
100 frames per sec / (720P)