Kodak Wins Award For Image Sensor Technology Contributions

October 17, 2001 - Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it has received an Emmy Award for its role in the development of the consumer camcorder. The award was presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), which also named Hitachi, JVC, Matsushita, and Sony as co-recipients. Kodak was recognized for its pioneering work in the development of image sensors with integral color filter arrays which, for the first time, allowed a single solid-state sensor to produce a color image. "Kodak's innovative research played a key role in the evolution of low-cost, high quality consumer camcorder products," said Dona Flamme, general manager of Kodak's Image Sensor Solutions division. "We are proud to accept this prestigious award, particularly for an innovation which has had such a profound impact on the consumer digital imaging marketplace."

Today's consumer camcorders use a charge-coupled device (CCD) to convert light into electrical signals. The first CCDs, developed in the 1960s and early 1970s, were monochrome image sensors. To generate a color image, a camera needed three monochrome sensors with a prism beam splitter, or a single sensor with a rotating color wheel in front of it, to separate the light into its color components prior to reaching the CCD. This led to color video cameras which were too large and expensive for consumer use.

In the early 1970s, Kodak began a CCD research group as part of its Rochester, NY Research Labs. The Kodak researchers were the first to conceive of fabricating color filters directly on top of the individual pixels of a solid-state image sensor. This was a revolutionary idea, which required developing color filter fabrication technology that was compatible with the CCD semiconductor fabrication processes. Kodak's expertise with color dye technology and the photoresists used in semiconductor fabrication made this possible. In order to be produced economically, the filter fabrication technology had to be implemented in the final steps of the CCD manufacturing process, while the sensors were still part of a large wafer. Kodak researchers developed not only the required fabrication processes, but also developed preferred color filter array patterns. They recognized the advantages of using mosaic patterns, rather than the vertical or diagonally overlapping stripes that had been used in early tube cameras.

Kodak was issued many patents related to this technology, including a patent issued in 1976 to Mr. Bryce Bayer, which described an optimal color mosaic pattern used to maximize the fidelity of the resulting images. The "Bayer pattern" is still widely utilized today in many consumer digital cameras.

As a result of Kodak's research and commercialization efforts, CCDs using integral color filters began to replace tube sensors in the mid 1980s. This transition played a major role in enabling widespread availability of miniature, low-cost, high quality, camcorders for consumers all over the world.

Kodak remains strongly committed to continuing its tradition of innovation in solid-state image sensors. Kodak's Image Sensor Solutions division (ISS) is a leading provider of CCD and CMOS image sensors into worldwide markets including medical and scientific imaging, digital photography, and industrial and remote sensing applications.

For additional information about Eastman Kodak Company, visit our web site on the Internet at: www.kodak.com

SOURCE Kodak