Technology from Galway firm FotoNation will be embedded in more than half of the digital cameras sold worldwide this year.
A number of FotoNation's products are used by the big names of digital imaging, including Olympus, Pentax, Kodak, Sony, Canon, HP and Samsung.
Founded in 1997 by Eran Steinberg and Yury Prilutsky, the company originally had its headquarters in Galway and maintains a significant research and development centre there.
The 80-person company has subsequently opened sales operations in the US and Japan, with additional researchers located in Romania and Russia.
"It's pretty impressive for a firm based in Galway, which would be seen as a backwater by the big Japanese electronics manufacturers, to be in eight out of the top 10 camera manufacturers," said FotoNation managing director Shane Fanning.
FotoNation tackles a number of problems that are traditionally a bugbear for the amateur photographer, in particular the perennial problem of "red eye".
Rather than providing software to enable images to be touched up later on a PC, FotoNation's combined software and hardware removes any red eye in-camera. This means that the images are cleaned up before they are downloaded to a PC or e-mailed to friends.
FotoNation has also developed face tracking technology, which enables a human face to be tracked when framing a shot. This means that the subjects (up to 15 in each picture depending on the capability of the digital camera) are always properly exposed and in focus.
Other products compensate for dust particles on a camera lens or remove "orbs" - those halos of light that sometimes appear when using a flash.
Ultimately, the company would like to echo the success of the "Intel inside" marketing campaign in the PC sector, this time in the digital camera market: a number of its customers already ship their products with the FotoNation logo on their packaging.
Given that Nokia, through its camera phones, is now the bestselling digital camera brand internationally, FotoNation is aggressively targeting the camera phone market.
"There's a huge opportunity for us in camera phones to improve image quality," said Mr Fanning. "It is currently limited by the size of the sensors that you can build into a small phone."
The company has a firm grounding in research and development and, according to Mr Fanning, it is one of the most active patent-filing companies in the Republic. FotoNation has more than 80 patents worldwide and works closely with academic institutes including NUI Galway.
"Because we patent our research, we are creating a sustainable industry," said Mr Fanning. "This is something that is really desirable for Ireland Inc."
Financially, FotoNation looks in good health. Last year it had sales of $7.2 million (€5.09 million) and reported a profit of $1.9 million, according to Mr Fanning.
As a result, it is currently looking to double its research and development head count, which will enable it to apply its technology to new sectors such as medicine and the car industry.
