About Applied Color Science, inc.

Applied Color Science, inc.

Mission Statement

The mission of Applied Color Science, inc. is to promote the technology and commercial utilization of digital image capture and photography by developing products that incorporate both revolutionary and evolutionary improvements in imaging components, processing and systems.

Background

The company was founded in 2001 by Matthew Whalen, a recognized innovator in imaging system design and color science. ACSi is a California corporation with its corporate offices and development laboratory located in Orange County, California approx. 20 minutes south of the John Wayne International Airport.

Corporate Strategy

To achieve success in this rapidly changing market, Applied Color Science has adopted a three-tiered strategy for success:

I.) Image Sensor Characterization and Evaluation

In any image capture system, the single most critical component is the device that converts the optical image to electronic signals - the image sensor. This is also an area of technology that has seen tremendous change over the last decade with the development of high quality CMOS sensors. ACSi is playing a vital role in the development of this technology by acting as a link between the image sensor designers/manufacturers and the camera system end users of these devices.

ACSi has and continues to develop a library of CMOS Sensor Characterization Study Reports that are available for purchase to companies interested in developing high performance video/still camera systems for consumer, commercial security, homeland defense, and machine vision applications. As a result of close working relationships with several of the world’s top CMOS sensor design companies including AltaSens, Cypress/FillFactory, Aptina, Kodak and others , ACSi has access to sensor design and operational data that enable end user customers to make informed decisions in camera and imaging systems design.

II.) Camera platform development

The long-awaited emergence of High Definition (HD) TV as a consumer electronics standard has created enormous opportunities for new imaging devices. Since 2001, Applied Color Science has been developing image capture platforms that exploit the high resolution, high frame rate and progressive scan image capture that HD video provides. As our first product offering in 2002, we introduced a CMOS Sensor Developers’ kit that is a modular and robust platform for camera OEMs and system integrators to test a variety of CMOS image sensors with a common control and processing back end. These kits are currently in production and have been shipped to several customers worldwide. In addition, we recently announced the development of a small HD video capture module (the ACSion - series) that support a variety of CMOS sensor front ends, incorporate a powerful and flexible proprietary image processing pipeline in an integrated FPGA, and output directly to HDTV monitors.

Applied Color Science has an experienced team of digital imaging product developers, that includes hardware design, embedded firmware design, software design, and production/manufacturing process capabilities. The company is actively involved in both digital still camera and digital video camera designs for applications ranging from consumer electronics to medical imaging to security/defense to digital cinema.

III.) Image Processing Algorithm Development

A significant product differentiator in all digital imaging systems is the way in which raw pixel data from an image sensor is transformed into a well-defined, color-corrected video or still image. Utilizing its understanding of CMOS sensor characteristics and a modular design approach, ACSI has developed a set of image processing algorithms that take full advantage of new sensor capabilities and more powerful image processing engines to produce optimal image quality output.. The company has already developed algorithms for RGB Bayer de-mosaic and auto-white balance that produce world-class digital still images. These are currently available for licensing to third parties as either host-based software modules or embedded code.

In addition to the activities mentioned above, Applied Color Science continues to innovate novel digital camera architectures and intellectual property that combine the best features of conventional film with digital imaging.

An example of this is a recently submitted patent for a "Universal Imager Bus" for digital cameras that enables users to interchangeably use different image sensors in the same digital camera. ( US Patent Publication # 2004/0085476).