Sony makes 48-megapixel sensor for cameras in smartphones

Sony has announced the IMX586, a 48-megapixel sensor for use in smartphones. The cmos sensor has pixels of 0.8 microns and uses a modified Quad Bayer filter, which according to the manufacturer increases the light sensitivity.

Sony will supply samples of the IMX586 sensor to manufacturers from September. It is a sensor of the 1/2″ format, with a diagonal of 8mm. The chip is therefore slightly larger than most sensors for smartphone cameras; manufacturers often use cmos sensors from 1/2.6″ to 1/2 .3″. Huawei uses a larger 1/1.7″ sensor in its 40-megapixel P20 Pro.

The sensor has very small pixels of 0.8μm. Sony puts a Quad Bayer filter over it, in which four pixels in a 2×2 configuration are provided with one color filter. In good lighting conditions, the colors of all individual pixels are calculated using algorithms based on the surrounding color filters. In poor lighting conditions, the custom filter ensures that the performance is comparable to that of a twelve-megapixel sensor with 1.6μm pixels.

The image of the stacked cmos sensor can be read at 30fps at full resolution. In a 4k resolution of 4096×2160 pixels, the maximum frame rate is 90fps and with a 1080p resolution that increases to 240fps. In 720p, the sensor can be read at 480fps, but this is a crop of the image. Whether there will actually be smartphones that film in 4k resolution at 90fps also depends on other components, such as the image processor, which must be able to process images at that speed.

It is not yet known when phones with the 48-megapixel sensor from Sony will be released. A large part of the smartphone manufacturers use IMX sensors from Sony.

12-megapixel photo (left) and 48-megapixel photo