Atmel’s July 2000 announcement was for MPIX 1, a digital-camera processor—not a CCD sensor. MPIX 1 could work with CCD or CMOS imagers of up to 16 megapixels. Separately, Atmel documented the AT71201M, a 16-megapixel full-frame CCD sensor. The available records do not establish that the supplied headline refers to the AT71201M or that it launched on the date of the MPIX 1 announcement.
What Atmel announced in July 2000
On July 31, 2000, Atmel announced the immediate availability of MPIX 1. The contemporary release, reproduced by DPReview, calls it a single-chip digital-camera processor based on an ARM7 processor. It says the chip had first been sampled in June and that production was ramping up to support two customers: a consumer digital-camera product and an industrial application.
The release said MPIX 1 supported CCD and CMOS imagers up to 16 megapixels. That describes the maximum imager resolution the processor could support; it does not make MPIX 1 a 16-megapixel CCD.
Processor functions Atmel listed
Atmel described MPIX 1 as integrating imager-processing DSP, baseline JPEG compression and decompression, Flash-card interfaces, full-speed USB, a UART for PC-camera applications, and direct interfaces to UNIPAC and EPSON LCDs. Its listed image and video features included still-photo and movie modes, programmable image and movie windows, smear correction, color recovery, gamma correction, color-space conversion, saturation control, luminance enhancement, and chroma gain. These are capabilities reported by Atmel, not independent performance-test results.
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Atmel’s director of multimedia and communications products, Nick Kanopoulos, described it as highly integrated and said it took still pictures, displayed video, and recorded and played voice memos. His claim that it was “the most integrated camera processor in the market” was the company’s characterization, not an independently established comparison.
The separate 16-megapixel CCD: AT71201M
Atmel’s preliminary AT71201M datasheet describes a full-frame charge-coupled-device (CCD) image sensor. It specifies 4096 × 4096 useful pixels—about 16.8 million pixels—and divides the photosensitive area into four zones driven separately by four-phase clock sets. The datasheet says the sensor can be used in up to 12 main modes.
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The preliminary datasheet, whose revision line is 5328A–IMAGE–05/03, lists these specifications:
| Specification | AT71201M datasheet value |
|---|---|
| Useful pixel array | 4096 × 4096 |
| Pixel size and fill factor | 11 × 11 µm; 100% fill factor |
| Response range | Extends up to 1100 nm |
| Readout hardware | Two serial registers and four output amplifiers |
| Readout rate | Up to 40 MSPS |
| Frame rate | Up to 7.4 frames per second |
These are figures from a preliminary datasheet, not independent measurements. Electronic Design also discusses Atmel’s 16-megapixel AT71201 and describes its full-frame 4096 × 4096 array, readout formats, binning, and performance. That provides secondary technical context; the datasheet is the basis for the specifications above.
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The datasheet names digital photography, graphic arts, medical and industrial applications, and scientific analysis as possible uses. It does not establish that the sensor is currently manufactured, supported, or suitable for any particular camera.
How MPIX 1 and AT71201M differ
| MPIX 1 | AT71201M | |
|---|---|---|
| Component type | Digital-camera processor | Full-frame CCD image sensor |
| Imaging support | CCD and CMOS imagers | CCD sensor |
| Resolution information | Supports imagers up to 16 megapixels | 4096 × 4096 useful pixels |
| Evidence and date | Atmel availability announcement dated July 31, 2000 | Preliminary datasheet, revision notation 05/03 |
They are different kinds of components, not competing versions of the same product: an image sensor captures light, while a processor handles data and functions in a camera system. The announcement and datasheet establish that Atmel had both a processor with support for high-resolution imagers and a separately documented 16-megapixel CCD; they do not establish that the two were launched together or designed as a specific paired system.
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What can be said about availability now
Atmel’s 2000 announcement said MPIX 1 was offered for sale in the USA, Europe, and parts of Asia. It quoted a high-volume price of $15 and an OEM development-kit price of $15,000 at that time. Those are historical prices, not current quotes or evidence of present stock. The preliminary AT71201M datasheet likewise does not establish current orderability, an authorized supplier, or a supported successor.
Microchip’s Atmel acquisition FAQ says Microchip announced the acquisition on January 19, 2016, and completed the merger in July 2016; Atmel products and technologies are now under Microchip. That corporate history does not, by itself, confirm the AT71201M’s lifecycle or availability. No compatibility with a particular camera system is established by these sources.
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