The company has also completed development of a 3.2Mpixel version of the CIS specifically aimed for use in camera phones, which it plans to start making in volume early next year. Both parts will be made on a dedicated, 300nm, 0.13 micron production line.

Samsung says the 5M-pixel CIS performs at the same level as its charge-coupled device (CCD) counterpart, yet it operates on less power and is more price competitive.

The CIS has a 0.5-inch lens aperture with a pixel measurement of 2.2 by 2.2 microns. The company says the fill factor (the image sensor's measurement of light sensitivity) is a 50 percent improvement on previous designs, and has a footprint at least 30 percent smaller than other models of equivalent resolution.

The part incorporates a sub-sampling function that shoots VGA quality moving images at 30 frames a second with no deterioration of picture quality.

In the 3.2M-pixel CIS, pixels measure 2.25 by 2.25 microns in a 1/3-inch lens aperture with serial interface applied for accelerated data processing speeds.

Market analyst firm Gartner Dataquest recently estimated the global CIS market would increase from $2.4 billion in 2004 to $3.2 billion this year and surge to $5.6 billion by 2008.