Kodak, IBM see eye to eye on new image sensors

Eastman Kodak Company and IBM will work together to develop and manufacture
image sensors used in such consumer products as digital still cameras and camera
phones. The collaboration will mate Kodak's image sensor technology with IBM's
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing. The result will be
image sensors with higher performance, improved image quality and more
innovative features than current CMOS image sensor (CIS) devices.

A critical component in any digital imaging device, image sensors act as the
'eye' of a digital camera by converting light into electric charges. The
explosion of consumer digital camera and camera phones has ripened the market
for CIS devices, which offer simpler design and use less power. So far, however,
CIS devices haven't matched the image quality of charge coupled devices, or
CCDs, the sensors found in most camera models. The new collaboration aims to
beef up CIS devices' image quality.

"By combining our chip technology capability with Kodak's sensor
expertise, we are able to tailor our semiconductor manufacturing processes to
produce industry-leading image sensors for Kodak," said Tom Reeves, VP of
semiconductor products and solutions, IBM Systems & Technology Group.

This combination of merging the strengths will allow Kodak to supply image
sensors that offer higher performance, improved image quality and more
innovative features than current CIS devices. IBM will expand its value-added
foundry offerings to include the design and high-volume production of image
sensors for rapidly growing digital consumer imaging applications.

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