South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. has launched a stand-alone image sensor brand ISOCELL to enhance its position in the burgeoning global image sensor market that is currently led by Japanese rival Sony Corp. with a separate nameplate.

The Korean company on Wednesday unveiled the ISOCELL brand along with four solutions at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai in China. It has decided to sell its image sensors under a separate brand, as the global image sensor market is set to grow rapidly in line with the advancement in self-driving and the Internet of Things technologies.

Image sensors are system semiconductors that capture and transform visual and video information into electronic signals, such as charge-coupled device or complementary metal oxide semiconductor of a digital camera or smartphone that transforms light captured by the camera lens into image.

Currently, Japan’s Sony is the global leader in the image sensor market, commanding the largest share with stand-alone brand Exmor. Samsung Electronics, No. 2 in the market, has been producing image sensors without a separate brand.

ISOCELL is named after Samsung Electronics’ image sensor technology that was developed and applied for the first time in the world in 2013. The technology ensures high-quality image even with small pixels by minimizing interference between micro sensor pixels. Image sensors are used in various devices including smartphones and vehicle cameras as well as in security equipment and medical devices.

By Lee Dong-in

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]