One small step to better flash for camera phones

Stuart Corner
Monday, 10 September 2007 18:02

Business IT - Technology

It's a big ask to expect a camera phone to produce a flash comparable to a purpose-built digital camera but super-capacitor technology is shrinking the gap.

Capacitors store electrical energy during periods of low-load power and then release it in quick "bursts" during peak-power events such as creating flash illumination for photography. Today's supercapacitors store vastly more electrical charge in much smaller volumes than the devices of old, enabling them to drive an LED for a flash on a camera phone with reasonable intensity. They can deliver 100x the power of batteries and store 10,000x more energy than conventional capacitors. However, challenges remain and performance demands are growing.

According to Stuart Robinson, director of handset component technologies for technology market research firm Strategy Analytics, "Consumers want their cellphones to be as good as their digital still cameras and produce clear pictures even in low light. We estimate that over the next three years high-powered LED flash in cellphones will grow at an annual average rate of 155 percent, and will be in over 70 percent of all camera phones by 2010.

Australian supercapacitor developer, Cap-XX has produced new products designed specifically for incorporation in camera phones. They are designed to operate over a wider range of temperatures than earlier products and are claimed to be ideal for driving high-power LED flash for camera phones, PDAs and digital cameras and driving high power audio amplifiers for mobile audio in cell phones and portable multimedia players.

The company's new HS and HW supercapacitors are designed to function at temperatures up to 85°C and to work reliably in devices where nearby components can get very hot, such as RF power amplifiers, which can reach 120°C during transmission, as well as in devices which are exposed to environmental high temperatures, such as a mobile phones left on the dashboard of a car in direct sunlight.

"These ruggedised supercapacitors support the most environmentally-demanding, power-hungry mobile phone applications," said Anthony Kongats, CEO of CAP-XX. "The higher voltage enables high-power LED flash for better pictures, and can double audio power for richer-sounding music. The new high-temperature threshold assures reliability, even in a phone left in a car on a hot day."