KAC−12040
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or equal to the median value of that region of interest minus
the dark threshold specified.
Example for bright field defective pixels:
•Average value of all active pixels is found to be 700 dn
•Lower defect threshold: 700 dn ⋅ 12% = 84 dn
•A specific 128 × 128 ROI is selected:
♦Median of this region of interest is found to be
690 dn.
♦Any pixel in this region of interest that is
≤ (690 − 84 dn) in intensity will be marked
defective.
♦Any pixel in this region of interest that is
≥ (690 − 84 dn) in intensity will be marked
defective.
•All remaining 299 sub regions of interest are analyzed
for defective pixels in the same manner.
6) Parasitic Light Sensitivity (PLS)
Parasitic Light Sensitivity is the ratio of the light
sensitivity of the photodiode to the light sensitivity of the
storage node in Global Shutter. There is no equivalent
distortion in Rolling Shutter. A low PLS value can provide
distortion of the image on the storage node by the scene
during readout.
PLS +Photodiode Responsivity
Storage Node Responsivity (UnitlessRatio)
GSE (Global Shutter Efficiency) is a related unit.
GSE +ǒ1*1
PLSǓ%
Detailed Method: Photodiode Responsivity:
The sensor is set in global shutter serial mode (integration
time not overlapping readout) and the FLO signal is used to
control a 550 nm normal incident (or large f# focused)
illumination source so that the sensor is illuminated only
during photodiode integration time (not illuminated during
readout time). The integration time is not critical but should
be large enough to create a measurable mean during this
time. A 16 frame-average illuminated photodiode image is
recorded. A 16 frame-average dark frame using the same
sensor settings is captured and is subtracted from the
illuminated image.
Detailed Method: Storage Node Responsivity:
The sensor is set to a special characterization mode where
the PD signal is discarded and does not impact the storage
node. A long total frame time (storage node exposure time)
is used to increase the storage node signal. A 16
frame-average dark frame is captured. The sensor is
illuminated by the same 550 nm incident light source used
for the photodiode responsivity. A 16 frame-average
illuminated photodiode image is recorded; the dark frame
image is subtracted from this. The integration time is not
critical but should be set such that a significant response is
detected, typically several orders of magnitude greater than
the photodiode integration time.
7) Black-Sun Anti-Blooming
A typical CMOS image sensor has a light response profile
that goes from 0 dn to saturation (1023 dn for KAC−12040
in 10 bit ADC mode) and, with enough light, back to 0 dn.
The sensor reaching 0 dn at very bright illumination is often
called the “Black-sun” artifact and is undesirable. Black-sun
artifact is typically the dominant form of anti-blooming
image distortion. For the KAC−12040 the Black-sun artifact
threshold is measured at the onset of saturation distortion,
not at the point where the output goes to 0 dn. To first order
the onset of black-sun artifact for the KAC−12040 is not
proportional to the integration time or readout time.
The sensor is placed in the dark at unity gain and
illuminated with a 532 nm laser with the intensity of about
26 W/cm2 at the center of the sensor. The laser is strong
enough to make the center of the laser spot below 1020 dn
without any ND filters. ND filters are added to adjust the
laser intensity until the signal in the region at the center of
the spot increases to > 1020 dn.
This illumination intensity at this ND filter is recorded
(W/cm2) as the Black-Sun Anti-blooming.
The ‘xIlumSat’ unit is calculated using and integration
time of 100 msec.
Exposing the sensor to very strong illumination for
extended periods of time will permanently alter the sensor
performance in that localized region.
8) Read Noise
This test is performed with no illumination and one line of
integration time. The read noise is defined as one standard
deviation of the frequency histogram containing the values
of all pixels after the excessively deviant pixels (± three
standard deviations) are removed.
9) Column Noise
After all rows are averaged together. Shading (low
frequency change wrt column address) is removed.
A frequency histogram is constructed of the resulting
column values. The column noise is the standard deviation
of the frequency histogram of the column values.
10) Row Noise
All columns are averaged together. Shading (low
frequency change wrt row address) is removed. A frequency
histogram is constructed of the resulting row values.
The row noise is the standard deviation of the frequency
histogram of the row values.
11) Maximum Photoresponse Non-Linearity
The photoresponse non-linearity is defined as the
deviation from the best fit of the sensor response using 70%
of saturation and zero signal as the reference points.
The different signal levels are determined by varying the
integration time. The sensor saturation level is (1023-dark
offset). The dark of fset is subtracted from the image for the
following MAVG and LAVG.