Aptina

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Aptina Imaging Corporation was a semiconductor company that made CMOS image sensors and processing hardware. It started as a Micron Technology unit in March 2008, spun off as Aptina, and became independent in 2009 after partial sale to investors. ON Semiconductor bought Aptina in August 2014.

Aptina’s sensors were used in Nikon cameras such as the V1, J1, and V2. By 2009 the company held about 16% of the CMOS image sensor market, with roughly $671 million in revenue.

The company’s roots go back to Photobit and Micron. Photobit, founded in 1995, was bought by Micron in 2001. Its early sensors included the PB-159 (1998) and PB-100 (1999). Micron continued developing smaller pixels, including a 1.75‑micron pixel in 2005 (launched in 2007) and a 1.4‑micron prototype in 2007.

Aptina’s Nikon 1 series used dual conversion gain sensors, offering a high dynamic range mode and a low-noise, lower-DR mode. In 2014 Aptina began offering a 1‑inch 4K image sensor for security cameras.

Aptina has about 650 employees and operated globally, with headquarters in San Jose, California, and offices around the world. It remains a part of ON Semiconductor.