Friday, February 25, 2011

Sony Announces 12MP, 1.55um Pixel BSI Sensor

Sony Cx-News vol 63 has a couple of announcements. The most interesting one a fast 12.4MP BSI CMOS sensor providing 42fps at full resolution and aimed at DSCs, probably the same sensor used in this year crop of compacts. The new 1/2.3-inch IMX078CQK sensor is able to deliver 1080p/60fps video. The IMX078CQK provides two modes for full HD video: mode 1 which strives for picture quality, and mode 9 which suppresses power consumption. It also provides modes that support high-speed imaging: mode 4 (240fps) and mode 7 (1000fps):


Its 10/12b output is delivered via 10-channel Sub-LVDS 576 Mbps serial output. The sensitivity is specified as 1437 digits (typ) at F5.6 lens, 1/30s exposure, green signal. The saturation is stated as 3089 digits (min) and, in terms of numbers of electrons converted per unit area, is said to be an increase of about 10% over current Sony products.

The IMX078CQK is said to use a technology that improves its light collecting efficiency and mixed-color characteristics and, for example, at a wavelength of 550 nm, the red and blue signal levels are improved by about 5 points compared to current Sony products at F2.8:


Another Sony announcement is the two new ISPs from its "Fffio" series aimed at CCD-based security cameras and supporting 650 lines of horisontal resolution, WDR and ATR-EX (adaptive tone reproduction).


This table summarizes the functionality of the newly announced ISPs:

1 comment:

  1. They talk about improving sensitivity, but they only show normalized responsivity curves. So how is one to know? Normalized curves are, for the most part, useless. Why doesn't Sony just publish what the real quantum efficiency or responsivity is for their sensors?

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