Camera-Phones Reinvent The Lens

Future Image Announces Research Study On Software-Enhanced Optics For Camera-Phones; Technologies to be demonstrated live during 6Sight New Technology Showcases

MONTEREY, Calif, October 23, 2006 – At the 6Sight® Future of Imaging conference (www.6sight.com), event host Future Image, the leading independent center of expertise on the convergence of imaging, technology, and business, announces the publication of “Reinventing the Lens: Software-enhanced Optics.” The report is the latest in Future Image’s series of research studies examining technology developments that will change how imaging products are made, marketed and used. It will be followed by two more “Reinventing the Lens” reports focusing respectively on Motion Technology and Hybrid Optics.

Over the past ten years, photographic cameras have almost completely transitioned from silver halide film to electronic sensors. But their other key component — the lens — has remained largely unchanged until now. The mobile phone industry, with its huge demand for embedded cameras, is driving a broad set of new requirements for miniaturized, rugged, low-cost, low-power, high-performance lenses. As they come to market, their superior value proposition threatens to displace traditional optics in cameras of all types.

“Reinventing the Lens: Software-enhanced Optics”  looks first at the changing requirements for mobile camera modules brought about by changing consumer preferences, including the latest developments in CMOS image sensors and explains why these changes require a new approach to the optical components. The 41-page report with 21 illustrations then describes in general terms the process of co-designing the optics and image-processing components to optimize the image captured by the sensor and summarizes the unique benefits that result from this approach. The report is largely based on a survey and follow-up interviews with the three leading vendors of software-enhanced optics: CDM Optics Inc. (OmniVision Technology Inc.), Dblur Technologies Ltd., and DxO Labs. All three vendors and their solutions are profiled.  Among the more than two-dozen topics covered:

• Speed metrics — responsiveness, time to achieve focus
• Cost of solution, both in terms of dollars and in terms of additional requirements for implementation
• Size and ruggedness characteristics compared to the requirements of the mobile industry
• What differences, if any, end-users will notice when using a camera-phone or camera that incorporates the technology, vs. a standard, traditional lens
• Vendor’s manufacturing/supply capabilities
• Track record - evidence of reputation, reliability, financial stability, etc.
• Advantages and disadvantages of each technology compared to traditional glass or plastic lenses, and compared to other competing technologies.

 “It’s inescapable that ‘software-enhanced optics’ in one form or another will play a pivotal role in next generation camera-phones, in a wide range of capture devices for automotive, security, medical, and industrial applications, and even in ‘pure play’ camera optics,” said Tony Henning, Editor of the Future Image Mobile Imaging Report. “The benefits of the technology are too numerous and too significant not to find traction in the value chain. The question that remains is which one — or which ones — will find commercial success.”

During two of the 6Sight conference’s New Technology Showcase sessions, these ground-breaking lens technologies and others will be demonstrated in plenary session, some for the first time. Companies presenting include: Artifical Muscle of Menlo Park, CA; dBlur of Herzeliya, Israel; DxO of Paris, France; IvenSense of Santa Clara, CA; New Scale Technologies of Victor, NY; OmniVision of Sunnyvale, CA; and Varioptic of Lyon, France. These demonstrations will be followed by a discussion led by Tony Henning, Editor of the Future Image Mobile Imaging Report and author of the “Reinventing The Lens” study, where attendees will hear from the firms who decide whether and when to adopt these technologies. Senior representatives of these companies, including Flextronics, Qualcomm and Sprint, will evaluate the technologies presented, explain their requirements for transitioning, and describe how they approach the process.

Ten imaging firms participating in the 6Sight conference will also make product or technology announcements at the event. They are: Artificial Muscle, CAP-XX, Corel Corporation, Digital Railroad, Exclaim (formerly dotPhoto), FotoNation, Nethra Imaging, PerkinElmer, Scoopt, and ShoZu (formerly Cognima). Sixteen companies will provide live demonstrations of new technology during the event’s three New Technology Showcase sessions, and twenty-two companies will exhibit in the New Tech Fair at the evening reception on October 24 in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

About 6Sight®: 6Sight is a two-day executive event focused on the explosive global spread of imaging technology, and its potential for exciting new opportunities to improve people’s lives in the personal, work, and community spheres. It is hosted and organized by Future Image, Inc. publisher of The Future Image Report since 1993 and host of the Mobile Imaging Summit executive conferences, and co-hosted by the two leading industry organizations in imaging — the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A) and the Photo Marketing Association International (PMA). The annual event brings together technologists, marketers, futurists, artists, educators, customers and members of the media for a program emphasizing innovative use cases, breakthrough technologies, and creativity. Sessions cover both device-related topics — future developments that will shape the products used to capture, display and manage digital images including camera-phones, digital cameras, imaging software and more — and content — the explosion of user-generated visuals that is transforming people’s lives. The presenters are an all-star lineup of thought leaders in digital imaging software and hardware, telecommunications, and information processing technology. 6Sight will be held on October 24 and 25, 2006 at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey, California.

About Future Image:
San Mateo, CA-based Future Image Inc (www.futureimage.com) is the leading independent center of expertise on the convergence of imaging, technology and business. Future Image hosts the 6Sight and Mobile Imaging Executive Summit conferences, and publishes two continuous information services, The Future Image Report which monitors the impact of new technologies on the imaging industry as a whole, and the Future Image MIR (Mobile Imaging Report) which focuses on camera-phones and the intersection of imaging and wireless communications. Future Image also underwrites and publishes primary research studies on the impact of emerging, imaging-focused technologies or business trends, and provides consulting services to vendors, investors and large-scale users. Future Image is the official information and research partner of the International Imaging Association (I3A).

 
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Media Contacts: Future Image 520 South El Camino, Suite 206A San Mateo CA 94402 V: +1-650.579.0493 F: +1-650.579.0566 Joe Byrd JByrd@FutureImage.com