Sony has announced a new CMOS image sensor for smartphones that comes with its own dedicated DRAM. The company claims that the new sensor is the first in the industry to come with a 3-layer stacked design. Until now, camera sensors have come with only two stacks, including image sensor and circuit processing unit. According to Sony, the new sensor with its embedded DRAM delivers faster image data readout speeds. This means that the CMOS sensor can capture images faster. The company further said that, “the product is capable of reading one still image of 19.3 million pixels in only 1/120 of a second (approximately 4x faster than conventional products), thereby supporting high-speed image capture.”
The sensor is claimed to be able of achieving slow motion video-recording speeds of up to 1000 frames per second (fps) in Full HD resolution. In comparison, Apple’s latest flagship – iPhone 7 Plus , can record videos ‘only’ at 240fps. comes with the ability to record videos in 240 frames per second. If the new Sony sensor makes it to future smartphones, it will definitely be a major step ahead for imaging experience on smartphones. Sony has not yet mentioned as to when (and if) the new sensor will be hitting its own Xperia smartphones or other flagships that use the company’s imaging sensors. The company could showcase the sensor at the upcoming MWC 2017 tech conference .
Last month, Sony sent out media invites for its launch event at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 trade show, scheduled for February 27 to March 2, 2017.
This Sony image sensor lets smartphones record videos in 1000fps
