A 17.7Mpixel 120fps CMOS image sensor with 34.8Gb/s readout

Recently, the demands to achieve both high-speed and high-quality imaging — including high A/D resolution — have increased. The new target specification is 60fps Ultra-High-Definition with 12b resolution. This imaging requires 24Gb/s, while reported CMOS image sensors have reached up to 6.5Gb/s [1–4]. This paper presents a 34.8Gb/s CMOS image sensor with high image quality, which realizes 17.7M pixels at 120fps with 12b resolution and a dynamic range of over 75dB (one of the highest image qualities, compared with data from [2]). Generally there exists a trade-off between high-speed imaging and high image quality. This is because high-speed imaging brings high power with high thermal noise, which also degrades the signal quality, and because fast data transfer may require more output pins, bringing more interference.