The upcoming Xiaomi 12S Ultra will have a primary camera powered by the 1-inch type Sony IMX989 camera sensor. Previously, the Sony Xperia PRO-I smartphone and some others also featured a similar-sized sensor. Still, the IMX989 is a new sensor “built for smartphones,” and Xiaomi had some design inputs (including financial ones), according to the Chinese OEM.
We recently named the Xiaomi 12 Pro as one of the best camera phones of 2022, so keep an eye out for the brand’s upcoming camera-first phone.
Previously, the Xperia PRO-I used a derivative of the 1-inch sensor originally developed for the impressive Sony RX100 VII compact camera. Also, the Xperia PRO-I doesn’t fully utilize the sensor surface area (probably due to the optics size and depth limitation). Unfortunately, using only 12MP instead of the full 24MP defeats the purpose of a large sensor.
Sure, the effective 12MP has great pixel size and overall sensor capabilities, but from a semiconductor perspective, a lot of die area (and therefore money) is wasted.
And that’s exactly why mobile camera sensor sizes have stagnated a bit over the past year, after a few years of rapid growth. Despite most marketing claims of “software capabilities,” many photographic performance improvements have been driven by the escalation of camera hardware. That’s exactly why we measure it with our CAMERA HW Benchmark.
That’s not to say software isn’t essential (it is), but the obvious reason OEMs keep upgrading camera hardware is that software can only improve image quality so much. Even Google had to make a colossal camera upgrade in the Pixel 6 to remain competitive despite its reputation for having the best image processing.
Xiaomi is said to have found a way to use the entire sensor area, perhaps with a redesign of the optics, but we need further explanations. This is a simple physical limitation that should be easy to describe without revealing any secrets. Until then I remain skeptical, but I hope it’s true.
Well, how is the Sony IMX989 “made for smartphones”? It’s hard to say without the detailed specs. This may have to do with features that are expected on mobile phones and not very common on larger cameras, e.g. B. Optimized readout timing for batch photography.
It could also have something to do with the chip’s packaging, which would be better optimized for installation in a phone. You shouldn’t have to worry about these details as long as the camera works to your liking.
The sensor is 16mm diagonally, leading some experts to wonder that it’s “not an inch”, but it’s not that accurate. While people say “one inch sensor,” they should be saying “one inch sensor.” Type Sensor.”
The term “1 inch” dates back to the days of the cathode ray tube (CRT) when broadcast cameras used a sensing area inside a CRT and the tube’s outside diameter was 1 inch. Inside, the diagonal of the detection area was approximately 16mm.
However, the industry has stuck to the 1-inch terminology to this day. Cined has a great explanation If you want more detail, but that’s not new at all, and I wrote a size converter between inches and mm a while ago for our CAMERA HW benchmark.
Filed in . Read more about Cameras, cmos sensor and sony.
This article was previously published on Source link
