On the evening of March 18th, at the flagship new product launch conference of Glory Spring, the highly anticipated Magic6 to Zhen Edition and Magic6 RSR Porsche designs were officially unveiled. These two flagship mobile phones are equipped with a newly upgraded SLR super-dynamic Hawkeye camera, which brings the world’s first LOFIC technology (full name: lateral overflow integration capacitor) from the vehicle regulation level.
According to people in the industrial chain, LOFIC technology comes from Howell Group (603501.SH), and Glory will use this technology to take the super-dynamic Hawkeye as the main camera and name it H9800. As the world’s first smart phone image sensor with LOFIC technology, a single exposure can achieve a dynamic range close to the human eye level, setting a new industry standard for high dynamic range (HDR) image capture of mobile phone photography.
In an interview with the media, Yu Renrong, chairman of Howe Group-Weir Co., Ltd. said: "LOFIC technology can now basically approach the level of human eyes, enabling mobile phone image sensors to achieve the maximum dynamic range under limited specifications, opening up the imagination of image innovation."
The official micro-signal of Howe Group also introduced this technology. TheiaCel? technology uses the function of LOFIC to provide excellent single exposure HDR even under challenging lighting conditions. The OV50K4050 megapixel image sensor based on TheiaCel? technology adopts 1.2 micron pixel size and 1/1.3 inch optical format, and has the functions of high gain and correlated multiple sampling (CMS), which can achieve the best performance in low light conditions.
The easy-to-understand explanation is that the basic principle is to place a high-density capacitor on each photodiode of the mobile phone image sensor to collect photoelectrons that may have overflowed due to saturation. When the number of photoelectrons converted by the photodiode exceeds the maximum capacity originally, the excess photoelectrons will flow to the adjacent capacitors instead of being "overexposed" because of overflow, which makes the highlight information in the shooting scene better preserved by the sensor and makes the output film closer to reality.
As early as last September, Howe Group introduced the image sensor OX08D10 with LOFIC technology for the automobile market for the first time. With TheiaCel?, OX08D10 can capture HDR images up to 200 meters away, which can achieve the best balance between SNR1 and dynamic range, and is also the best choice for outdoor camera applications. This year, the company introduced this revolutionary technology into the consumer smart phone industry, showing the infinite possibilities of TheiaCel?’s technological innovation.
In recent years, with the changes in the demand structure of the downstream market, the consumer electronics market is undergoing a round of product cycle structure adjustment. According to the research results of consulting firm TechInsights, the demand of mainstream smartphone manufacturers for mobile phones equipped with high-performance cameras is driving the market demand for 50-megapixel CIS products with large pixel size and larger optical format.
In order to meet the market demand, Howe Group has laid out products with different pixel specifications, which can be covered by all categories, and has made significant progress in the high-end CMOS market. The products have been used in high-end flagship smartphones of many domestic head phone brands. Among them, OV50H product is the beginning of the company’s high-end main camera layout, which is widely known for Xiaomi 14 "Light and Shadow Hunter 900". The poster announced by Xiaomi Company shows that the power consumption of "Light and Shadow Hunter 900" is reduced by 42% under the same size. According to the industrial chain information, in addition to Xiaomi, this product is also equipped with rear-mounted main camera sensors on many high-end models such as VIVO iQOO12 series and glory Magic6.
The release of the new image sensor with LOFIC technology of Howell Group is a further breakthrough in the field of high-end flagship machine image sensors, which sets a new performance benchmark for the flagship rear main camera. Industry analysts pointed out that this also shows that the competitiveness of domestic CMOS manufacturers in the high-end market is expected to be widely recognized by mainstream mobile phone manufacturers around the world, and the launch of the company’s series of core product technologies will also reshape the industry’s head pattern. （CIS）
Proofreading: Zhao Yan