Fujitsu deal keeps FotoNation focused

Technology from FotoNation, the Galway-based provider of software and hardware to digital camera manufacturers, will be integrated into the next generation of Milbeaut chips from Fujitsu.

The chips are used in compact cameras and camera phones by several leading manufacturers. FotoNation Ireland managing director Shane Fanning said the deal was "very significant" for the company.

It is the latest big win for FotoNation, whose products have been embedded in more than 70 million cameras sold by leading names such as Canon, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus and Sony.

FotoNation was founded in 1997 and initially provided software to remove "red eye" from digital images. The technology available on the Fujitsu chips is FastTrack. It identifies and tracks up to 10 faces while an image is being framed and enables automatic adjustment of focus, exposure and colour balance to achieve the best possible picture.

Mr Fanning said FotoNation would be able to use the same technology to accelerate all of its applications. Until now its products have been included in cameras as embedded software.

FotoNation will be demonstrating a number of new products at the Photo Marketing Association convention in Las Vegas at the end of the month. SmileCheck, an extension of its face tracking software, can detect whether a subject is smiling before a picture is taken. Another product built on face tracking is FaceTime, which addresses the problem of photographers using a timer who want to be included in the picture. It ensures that the picture is not taken until the photographer's face is detected in the frame.

The company is also showing a solution to chromatic aberrations which are associated with lower-end cameras. ChromaFix enhances the images, removing common effects such as purple fringes that appear around high contrast edges in a photo.

"We research and develop algorithms that solve real problems in the video or still acquisition domain," said Petronel Bigioi, who heads up engineering. His team is developing an array of new products and says the common theme is they either "improve image quality or make the use of a camera easier".