I recently got back from the MIPI© Alliance meeting in Warsaw with the urge to buy a new phone. MIPI is an industry standards body with over 200 members, defines the interface standards for future (and many current) mobile devices. These standards cover camera, display, radio, flash storage, audio, physical layer signaling and other important interface standards. While attending the meeting, I had the opportunity to attend the Camera Working Group meeting in which we discussed the benefits the recently announced CSI-3 specification will bring to camera phones. CSI-3 was announced in February, and is currently available to member companies for implementation. (Arasan has announced support for CSI-3 as well). CSI-3 leverages MIPI’s UniProSM standard as well as the MIPI M-PHY for the physical layer interface. Phones which use CSI-3 will have cameras that rival digital still cameras in many ways. These cameras will have much lower shutter lag than today’s models and faster auto-focus for burst shooting, say at your kid’s sports event. CSI-3 will also support richer colors, longer battery life and if that isn’t enough, video resolution will be up too. The only catch here is that I have to wait for the first phones to come out with this new technology. When they do, I’m getting one. You’re going to want one too. Visit Arasan’s CSI-3 Receiver Overview to learn more.
