Sony preps ultra-fast 17.7MP phone camera
updated 07:40 am EST, Fri February 25, 2011
Sony 17.7MP phone camera hits 120FPS
Sony late Thursday said it had developed a small, phone-sized 17.7-megapixel camera sensor that would overcome much of the performance bottlenecks of earlier technology. The technique, described by Nikkei [reg. required], can process several pixels' input in parallel and takes up to 75 percent less time to generate the final image. At 34.8Gbps of bandwidth, it's about five times faster than a typical phone camera and can handle burst photography or high-speed video that wouldn't have been an option before.
The CMOS-based Exmor sensor can shoot video at its maximum resolution at up to 120FPS if the device processor and storage can handle the footage; it would more likely shoot at lower resolutions or use the extra speed for continuous still shooting. A new underlying design also reportedly prevents the extra speed from draining extra battery power.
Sony hasn't given a timeline for when the sensor would be used but plans to use it both in phones and in its point-and-shoot Cyber-shot cameras. The company is the most prolific camera sensor manufacturer in the world and may supply the iPhone 5's camera, although the 2011 update would be for a lower-resolution eight megapixel sensor. [via CrunchGear]
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jun 2007
pixelmania
The camera producers have learned their lesson and stopped that pixelmania. 17.7 Megapixel on such a TINY chip will produce utterly ugly pictures that only are useful when scaled down. It seems that phone consumers have not yet understood that double the pixels on the same chip size won't produce twice as good pictures...