THE Sony is one of the largest image sensor manufacturers in the world, also owning one of the most successful photographic departments in the world.
Indeed, their Sony Alpha cameras are living proof of the success and growth of the dedicated professional camera segment, but there is also room for smartphone cameras Even better.
With that in mind, the Japanese giant unveiled a new solution for image sensors to apply to its Android smartphones.
Likewise, it will also be a component that other mobile device manufacturers may purchase to improve the photographic rendering of their tablets and smartphones.
Sony Introduces New CMOS Image Sensor That Captures Twice the Light
In fact, it should be noted that the announcement was made by Sony itself through Press release. The caption for that document states that Sony created the world’s first stacked CMOS sensor with two-layer technology.
To try to simplify this concept, first imagine a conventional image sensor: a surface filled with light-sensitive cells (the individual pixels). Now, this Sony solution essentially consists of a sensor with two stages, or two layers of light-sensitive cells, that allow light to pass from the first layer to the second layer.
That is, without increasing the physical dimensions of the sensor, the biggest restriction for the application on smartphones and mobile devices, Sony can double the effective capture of light.
In short, a smartphone has space limitations (physical restriction) to increase the size of the sensors. So Sony decided to increase the thickness, grow upwards rather than sideways, to capture more light.
Stacked CMOS sensor technology can double the quality of captured images
The solution, although it seems simple, entails a list of new concerns such as, for example, digital noise, the diffusion of light, among other problems. Something that Sony took into account during the development of this product now presented.
By the way, according to Sony, the captured images will have less digital noise (grain). In addition, a greater dynamic range is indicated, which makes it easier to avoid too many captures and poor lighting, with a greater saturation of the image signal obtained.
In short, by stacking the sensor components, Sony will also have more room to increase the physical size of each transistor. Something that, in turn, will result in images with fewer digital artifacts.
Finally, Sony announced that this new type of CMOS sensor has the smartphone market as its main objective. However, it did not disclose dates on the commercial availability of this promising new solution that is now being presented.