Electronics company Samsung has announced the latest addition to its line of CMOS image sensors, the S5K4AW, a 1/4-inch 1.2-Megapixel HD system-on-chip (SoC) unit. The embedded component is designed for notebook or desktop computers, with a focus on video capture for conferencing, web-based video sharing, or biometrics and security functions. The company claims that the sensor supports 720P HD video at 30 frames per second, and captures VGA-resolution streams at 60 frames per second.

The 1.2-Megapixel sensor carries a native resolution of 1280 by 960 pixels, using a technique known as "binning" two-by-two pixel groups, allowing VGA format to be displayed without cropping. The technology is also claimed to triple the light sensitivity compared to many other CMOS sensors.

Samsung is in the process of sampling the S5K4AW sensor to manufacturers. The components are expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2009.