Samsung announced a new camera chip designed for bringing high definition video capture to webcams. The S5K4AW CMOS sensor is a system-on-a-chip; computer manufacturers can easily install it in a laptop's case or along the bezel of a monitor without worrying about where to squeeze in extra hardware to process and format the camera's video data. The quarter-inch sensor can capture HD-quality video in a 1280 x 960 resolution at thirty frames per second, fast enough for smooth playback. If you don't need video exceeding 720p, the Samsung chip can double-up its pixels, sampling an image at 640 x 480 (one-quarter the full resolution) but with increased light sensitivity, able to record at sixty frames a second. What does all this mean to you? Be on the lookout for upcoming HD webcams with high frame rates being used for online video chat. Samsung plans to start mass production of the image sensors in 2009.

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