A
system and method is provided for enabling an advanced optical
magnification (zooming) function for low-power sensors, such as a remote
wireless camera, using electronic methods and enabling that
magnification be performed in any part of the imager. An
image sensor has a set of imager pixels that have a defined
field of view. A
display device is also provided, which has a far lower resolution than the imager. A
magnification level is selected, which results in macroblocks being defined for the sensor. A display
data value is generated for each
macroblock, and the set of display data values is used to drive a
data display. The area of magnification is flexibly selected on the imager. As the magnification level is increased, the number of imager pixels in each
macroblock decrease, enabling the display to present increasingly higher resolution images. Accordingly, an aesthetically pleasing magnification function is provided for a low-power, battery operated mobile environment.