A very low column FPN and row temporal noise 8.9 M-pixel, 60 fps CMOS image sensor with 14bit column parallel SA- ADC

A 1.25-inch optical format, 8.9 M-pixel CMOS image sensor that employs a 4T pinned photodiode (P-PD) pixel and 14 bit column ADCs is reported. A 14 bit or 12 bit digital video signal is streamed out via 16-lane low-voltage, low-power differential serial output ports in 50 fps and 60 fps operations, respectively. Temporal noise floor of 2.8^- _rms and linear full-well of 27.8ke^- were obtained at 60 fps operation. Row temporal noise and column FPN are as small as 0.31 e^- _rmsrms and 0.36 e^- _rms, respectively.

Introduction

An 8.3 M-pixel, 1.25-inch optical format CMOS image sensor having a 3T pixel was reported [1], [2]. Whilst good image quality has been demonstrated with this previous sensor with 10bit digital resolution, higher sensitivity and higher dynamic range are ultimately required for high-end video use, such as broadcasting cameras or digital cinema cameras. In addition, the reset noise of the 3T pixel limited its low light performance.