Alps Electric has completed the development of the FPDJ8 series, the industry’s smallest and thinnest 1/10 opt inch^*1 VGA^*2 camera module for use in mobile phones and handheld game machines. Sample shipments of the module commenced from May 2008.

In recent years, an increasing number of mobile phones are being equipped with sub cameras for taking self-portraits or making video calls. Because sub cameras are usually positioned close to the LCD display, space available for mounting the camera module is limited. Moreover, because mobile phone bodies have a predominately flat profile, there is a demand for a compact and thin camera module for sub camera use.

With this new product, Alps Electric has achieved the industry’s smallest VGA camera module (5.0mm wide x 5.0mm deep x 2.2mm high). The VGA camera module’s compact and thin profile has been achieved thanks to a proprietary structure developed by Alps Electric wherein the lens is directly mounted to the module’s interior.

In addition, while it is the industry’s smallest VGA camera module, its F value, which describes lens brightness, is 2.8, and the angle of view is 65.4° on the diagonal. Moreover, the new module boasts a performance level equal to that of the previous model.

Alps Electric provides both flexible PCB and socket type connection to the body of the finished product. Moreover, 11-wire parallel and 4-wire serial (MIPI^*3) interfaces are available for transmitting image data between the camera module and the mobile phone unit. Compatible with both parallel and serial interfaces and offering the above-mentioned connection methods, the camera module provides manufacturers with engineering flexibility.

*1 Opt inch: A display method customarily used to set the diagonal length of the image pickup tube used with the video camera with that of the camera module’s image pickup device. 1/10 opt inch is equivalent to approximately 1.8mm.

*2 VGA: Abbreviation for Video Graphic Array, with a 640 x 480 dot display resolution.

*3 MIPI: Abbreviation for Mobile Industry Processor Interface, the MIPI Alliance standards body interface specification for mobile phones.