New multi-channel spectral sensor from ams set to transform the market for mobile color and light measurement

Premstaetten, Austria  (09 January, 2019) -- ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, today launched a miniature spectral sensor chip that brings laboratory-grade multi-channel color analysis capability to portable and mobile devices.

In end products such as mobile phones or accessories, the new AS7341 from ams produces more precise spectral measurements in a wider range of lighting conditions than competing sensors. The new sensor’s small dimensions also mean that it is easier to accommodate it in mobile phones and other portable devices. 

“The AS7341 marks a breakthrough in the category of spectral sensors in a small package suitable for mounting in a mobile phone or consumer device. It is the smallest such device to offer 11 measurement channels, and also offers higher light sensitivity than any other multi-channel spectral sensor aimed at the consumer market,” says Kevin Jensen, Senior Marketing Manager in the Optical Sensors business line at ams.

Consumer benefits of the AS7341 include improved performance in mobile phone cameras, as the chip’s accurate spectral measurements enable superior automatic white balancing, more reliable light source identification and integrated flicker detection. The technology will more accurately reproduce colors and minimize distortion of ambient light sources, resulting in sharper, clearer and more true-to-color photographs. The AS7341 also will enable consumers to use their mobile devices to match the colors of objects such as fabrics through using color references like the PANTONE® Color System.

The power of the AS7341 to upgrade color measurement performance is demonstrated by the introduction of the Spectro 1™ portable colorimeter from Variable (www.variableinc.com). In the Spectro 1, Variable has used the AS7341 to provide professional color measurement for solid colors at a consumer price point. The product provides highly repeatable spectral curve data in 10nm increments across the visible light spectrum from 400nm to 700nm – a capability previously only available in professional spectrophotometers costing more than ten times as much as the portable Spectro 1.  

“In our opinion, no other spectral sensor IC comes close to offering the multi-channel capability of the AS7341 from ams in such a compact chip package,” says George Yu, CEO of Variable. “This small size is a crucial benefit – integration with a mobile phone app is one of the key features of Spectro 1, and we have designed the product to be small enough to hold easily in one hand. And the multi-channel spectral measurements provided by the AS7341 mean that users of Spectro 1 will never be misled by false matching of metameric pairs.”

The AS7341 is a complete spectral sensing system housed in a tiny 3.1mm x 2.0mm x 1.0mm LGA package with aperture. It is an 11-channel device which provides extremely accurate and precise characterizations of the spectral content of a directly measured light source, or of a reflective surface. Eight of the channels cover eight equally spaced portions of the visible light spectrum. The device also features a near infrared channel, a clear channel, and a channel dedicated to the detection of typical ambient light flicker at a frequency of 50Hz upto 1kHz.

Beside camera image optimization, the AS7341 spectral sensor also supports various applications, such general color measurement of materials or fluids, skin tone measurement, and others.

The AS7341, which will be demonstrated at CES 2019 (Las Vegas, NV, 8-11 January 2019) is available for sampling. Mass production starting in February. 

An evaluation board for the AS7341 spectral sensor is available. For sample requests or for more technical information, please go to AS7341.