Single-chip color imaging for UHDTV camera with a 33M-pixel CMOS image sensor

To develop an ultrahigh-definition television (UHDTV) camera-with a resolution 16 times higher than that of HDTV resolution and a frame rate of 60 Hz (progressive)-a compact and high-mobility UHDTV camera using a 33M-pixel CMOS image sensor to provide single-chip color imaging was developed. The sensor has a Bayer color-filter array (CFA), and its output signal format is compatible with the conventional UHDTV camera that uses four 8M-pixel image sensors. The theoretical MTF characteristics of the single-chip camera and a conventional four-8M-pixel CMOS camera were first calculated. A new technique for Bayer CFA demosaicing used for the single-chip UHDTV camera was then evaluated. Finally, a pick-up system for single-chip imaging with a 33M-pixel color CMOS image sensor was measured. The measurement results show that the resolution of this is equivalent to or surpasses that of the conventional four-8M-pixel CMOS camera. The possibility of a practical compact UHDTV camera that makes use of single-chip color imaging was thereby confirmed.