Time-of-Flight technology: Evaluating Sony's camera module being used by Oppo

Following its first introduction of a 3D structured light camera on the front of the Find X, last year, Oppo is now pioneering the use of 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) in its Rx17 Pro. Lenovo did a similar integration on the rear of one of its products a few years ago, integrating a pmd/Infineon solution in a high-end phone. In doing this, Asus and Lenovo added an additional Near Infra-Red (NIR) Global Shutter (GS) camera, but Oppo doesn't have such a dedicated NIR GS Camera. Instead, Oppo uses the latest generation of ToF camera technology from Sony Depth-sensing Solutions, formerly known as SoftKinetic.

The rear optical hub is packaged in one metal enclosure and features several cameras and a flood illuminator. The complete system features a telephoto and wide-angle camera module and a 3D ToF camera. The distinguishing characteristic of the 3D depth sensing camera is the addition of a NIR flood illuminator.

This report focuses its analysis on the 3D depth sensing system. All components are standard and can be found on the market. That includes a BackSide Illumination (BSI) ToF image sensor featuring 10 m x 10 m size pixels and resolution of 46 kilopixel, developed by Sony Depth-sensing Solutions. It also has one vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) for the flood illuminator, coming from a major supplier. This is the first ToF imager found on the market featuring BSI technology, which is commonly used by Sony, coupled with Current Assisted Photonic Demo-dulation (CPAD) developed by Sony Depth-sensing Solutions.

Along with the complete 3D depth sensing system, this report analyses the cost of the system and estimates its price. It also includes a physical and technical comparison with another 3D sensing system from Lenovo in the Phab2Pro, using the first generation pmd/Infineon ToF Imager. The comparison looks at system integration, the NIR camera module and the flood illuminator architecture.