Framework Laptop 13 Deep Dive - A laptop webcam with smartphone technology

Today we’re sharing more about the new second generation Webcam Module we developed alongside Framework Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra Series 1). Webcams in laptops often have poor image quality because laptop makers prioritize making the top bezel as narrow as possible, limiting the size of image sensors that can fit to tiny optical formats like ⅛” or even smaller (that’s smaller than a grain of rice). Worse, the image sensors available for notebooks typically use several-generation old sensing technology. All of this has resulted in a world where our smartphone cameras continue to achieve mind-blowing improvements in quality every year while our laptops are stuck with a grainy mess in a time when video conferencing is used more than ever.

We’ve been closely following image sensor roadmaps from suppliers to get around this challenge and were excited to see Omnivision announce the 9.2MP OV08X sensor in late 2022. This was the first and possibly only recent sensor bringing new smartphone image sensor technologies into a laptop-ready 1/5.7” optical format. The two most important improvements this sensor brings are backside illumination (BSI) and pixel binning. BSI is an image sensor manufacturing process improvement that enables much greater light sensitivity by moving the photodiode layer that measures light closer to the sensor surface. In the OV08X, BSI comes in the form of what Omnivision calls “PureCel Plus-2”, which is their marketing name for their set of advancements beyond traditional BSI that reduce pixel cross-talk.

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