Sony has announced a new small CMOS sensor (1/1.7 inch) capable of shooting RAW and has a 21.6-stop dynamic range. Although the sensor is aimed at automotive applications, it can be utilized on small action cameras and smartphones, thus allowing the shooting of high-DR RAW footage.
21.6 stops of dynamic range
As titled in the press release: “Sony Semiconductor Solutions to Release the Industry’s First CMOS Image Sensor for Automotive Cameras That Can Simultaneously Process and Output RAW and YUV Images Contributing to Simplified Systems by Expanding Single-Camera Applications”. The new sensor is capable of a dynamic range of 130 dB. A reminder – decibels are, like f-stops, a logarithmic system, so 6.02dB equals double the signal level. Hence, to convert the dynamic range from f-stops into decibels (dB), multiply the dynamic range in f-stops by 6.02 (20 log10). For instance, the 17-stop of the ALEXA 35 equals the dynamic range of 102.34dB (17×6.02). That’s considered a very high value. Now, for comparison, take the 130 dB declared by Sony regarding its new sensor, and you are getting a pretty high value of the dynamic range, which is equivalent to 21.6 stops (130/6.02) which is more than the human eye. That sounds pretty amazing for a small sensor.
Although the sensor was developed for automotive applications, the potential is huge for the cinema world. For instance, this sensor can be implemented in smartphones, and also inside action cameras. Now imagine that: Smartphones and small action cameras that can shoot 4K RAW and with 21.6 of DR.
RAW and 4K
The new sensor product has a proprietary ISP inside and can process and output RAW and YUV images simultaneously. RAW images are required for external environment detection and recognition in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems (AD), while YUV images are provided for infotainment applications such as the drive recorder and augmented reality (AR). By expanding the applications a single camera can offer, the new product helps simplify automotive camera systems and saves space, cost, and power. Sony adds that the roles of automotive cameras continue to diversify in line with advances in ADAS and AD and increasing needs and requirements about the driver experience. On the other hand, there is limited space for installing such cameras, making it impossible to continue adding more indefinitely, which in turn has created a demand to do more with a single camera.
High precision for a wide variety of applications
This sensor’s design allows a single camera to provide high-precision detection and recognition capabilities of the environment outside the vehicle and visual information to assist the driver as an infotainment application. When compared with conventional methods such as a multi-camera system or a system that outputs RAW and YUV images using an external ISP, the new product helps simplify automotive camera systems, saving space, costs, and power.
Future and possible utilizations
Although the sensor was developed for automotive applications, the potential is huge for the cinema world. For instance, this sensor (which costs only 600 USD – just for the sensor) can be implemented in smartphones, and also inside action cameras. Now imagine that: Smartphones and small action cameras that can shoot 4K RAW and with 21.6 of DR. That would be awesome!
Sorry. Back to having a hard time reading. What technology does this use to achieve it’s low automotive HDR score? I remember I was interested in an automotive sensor technology the decade before last with over 27 stops dynamic range. I had suggested to Red as a good potential technology. What did Sony wait for the patent to run out? $600 rather than 600 cents? Or is this the other auto gain technology (was it autobright?), they started using for time of flight distance calculations applications on phones?
A proof of the technique they use would have been useful in this article. As it is the sample images (and an ad in order to show the image after I accidentally selecting it) look like black shadows under the cars. I would have expected some greyed detail.
This is the problem with the organic sensors, there were superior dynamic range technology out there years ago that could go up against it very cheaply. Sure, there will be certain advantages but x thousands of dollars advantage, I imagine not. We should be in the realm of $10-20 cinema cameras by now. Competence does not know imaginary boundaries.