US : Tessera Technologies announced its OptiML Zoom solution is now available for licensing. This innovative image enhancement solution combines unique lens design with specialized algorithms to replace traditional mechanical zoom capabilities, enabling 3X optical zoom capabilities in a compact camera module without moving parts.

Mechanical zoom solutions require moving parts, making them too expensive and too large for handset manufacturers to integrate into today's smaller, thinner cell phones - they also have the potential for mechanical failures. Digital zoom solutions are inexpensive but provide poor image quality. The OptiML Zoom solution enables camera phone module makers to integrate high-quality optical zoom functionality at a significantly lower cost and with higher reliability, while enabling a reduction in the overall size of the camera module.

"Tessera is driving the convergence of digital still camera and cell phone capabilities, integrating its full range of consumer optics expertise - from image enhancement technologies to wafer-level optics expertise - to enable the next generation of smaller, smarter mobile devices," said Michael Bereziuk, chief operating officer, Tessera. "We believe the OptiML Zoom solution, which is the industry's first non-mechanical optical zoom solution, meets the growing demand for better functionality in camera phones, providing an optimal combination of price, performance, size and ease of integration."

The OptiML Zoom solution provides a significant performance advantage when compared to the most advanced digital zoom technologies in use today. The technology incorporates an innovative lens design that increases the resolution in the center of the image without narrowing the field of view. The result is true optical magnification without loss of detail.

"Tessera's OptiML Zoom technology addresses many of the issues that have plagued camera phones since day one," said Tony Henning, senior analyst at Future Image, Inc. "We're optimistic about the adoption of Tessera's non-mechanical zoom capabilities by handset OEMs and module manufacturers, and the subsequent widespread availability of higher quality camera phones in the near future."

The OptiML Zoom solution is now available for licensing from Tessera. For more information about the company's portfolio of image enhancement solutions, please visit: http://www.tessera.com/technologies/.

About OptiML Image Enhancement Technologies

The OptiML family of image enhancement technologies enables significantly higher-quality images in camera phones without the need for mechanical parts, providing a cost-effective alternative to current solutions which require moving parts and are larger, slower and less reliable. The OptiML Zoom solution offers 3X zoom capabilities, and the OptiML Focus solution enables all aspects of a high-quality image to be brought into focus automatically and simultaneously. The OptiML UFL solution improves low-light performance by increasing the amount of available light by as much as 250 percent, without degrading the field depth or other performance factors.