Sony teases new IMX686 image sensor, shows first samples in a promo video

07 November 2019
Not full resolution samples, though. In fact, Sony is keeping the sensor's resolution a secret for now.

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  • Anonymous
  • Mf6
  • 08 Nov 2019

Anonymous, 08 Nov 2019i think the problem might be with the lens, if these test i... moreWhy is that? What's the problem with smartphone lens?

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • tDQ
    • 08 Nov 2019

    EmojivsKimchi, 08 Nov 2019You lie, midrange capture more artificial image even it is ... moreNo. You're wrong

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • vDC
      • 08 Nov 2019

      Shriker, 08 Nov 2019Even being downscaled to less than 1/10th of their original... morei think the problem might be with the lens, if these test images are shot with smartphone level lens. you can't expect good lens on smartphones.

        Nick Tagataka, 08 Nov 2019A water paint washed Quad Bayer photo? That's a moot argume... moreYou lie, midrange capture more artificial image even it is in daylight, you pay cheaper that's the cheaper color tuning, that lost reality/natural colors. Only Xperia stay true to the real scene.

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          • AnonD-784107
          • H5G
          • 08 Nov 2019

          GrandMaster, 07 Nov 2019"The video also shows photos captured with the sensor, but ... moreSo if these are raw images. Doesnt say much about the sensor. This will take a lot of image processing to make them remotely any good. Just looks like a Galaxy Fame picture.

            Anonymous, 08 Nov 2019Pixel Shift = sensor moves inside the camera, something pho... morePlease re-read what I said in the comment. I stated some phones can achieve "similar effect" using handshakes (=cancellation of Bayer pattern to increase the resolution of the image), not they can achieve Pixel Shift using handshakes.

            Sony is a phone manufacturer but at the same time a camera manufacturer as well, and they want to protect the sales of the camera so of course they would say that. If they had disliked Quad Bayer sensor then they could've just used a larger sensor with regular Bayer CFA on their phones, but they didn't and instead opted for a sensor that has no advantage in physical size over what competitors are using, and it clearly tells you why.

            "No photographer would choose qb sensor over bayer sensor"
            Completely irrelevant statement. Dedicated cameras that pro photographers use don't even need Quad Bayer sensor since the sensor inside them are so large and sensitive to the light, there is little point of improve the SNR using pixel binning. They want high resolutions sensor so that they can print out their photos on a large size. Phone cameras, on the other hand, have physical limitations hence Sony had to find the workaround to achieve high resolution, light sensitivity and dynamic range while maintaining the overall dimensions small. Quad Bayer gives you exactly that.

              Even being downscaled to less than 1/10th of their original 16mp size you can see the images are still very soft and blurred. It's clear why they didn't offer the full resolution shots.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • LQw
                • 08 Nov 2019

                Nick Tagataka, 08 Nov 20191) Some phones are smart enough to achieve the similar effe... moreI forgot to say. All dual pixel AF sensors for smartphones are 12MP 1/2.55".

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                  • Anonymous
                  • LQw
                  • 08 Nov 2019

                  Nick Tagataka, 08 Nov 20191) Some phones are smart enough to achieve the similar effe... morePixel Shift = sensor moves inside the camera, something phones do not do. Each frame lasts 1s before sensor moves again. You need to wait 1s of photo + the time required to move sensor. For 4 frames, you need at least 8s handheld. You need at 1/32s or faster to avoid blur and ghosting. You cannot even use to photograph landscape because wind can make leaves swing.

                  They were asked and said they saw no advantage of using this kind of sensor. They could easily have access if they wanted.

                  This is from Sony Semicon. They can sell whatever they want. Sony Mobile has nothing with it. Any company can go to Sony Semicon and order a public sensor or exclusive one. Samsung, Apple, Huawei and Sony do it.

                  Sony has been working on this tech for years, if it was that good they would have more than just 1 sensor for cameras. No M4/3, no apsc nor medium format has it. Only one Full frame sensor exists.

                  Except the HDR , a 1/1.7" 64/16MP has no advantage over 1/1.7" 16MP. More gaps between pixels will waste light, more power used.

                  No photographer would choose qb sensor over bayer sensor.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • LQw
                    • 08 Nov 2019

                    AnonD-731363, 07 Nov 2019Well so far so good. At least Xiaomi will distribute this... moreWill distribute with cheap screen from a barely known company.
                    Note 10 Pro and Mix Alpha do not use screen from LG, nor Samsung , nor Boe.

                    Who said sony will use this? It is for midranges ....

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • LQw
                      • 08 Nov 2019

                      Someone posted on weibo it has quadpixel AF.

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                        • Hildr
                        • pnK
                        • 08 Nov 2019

                        Nick Tagataka, 08 Nov 2019A water paint washed Quad Bayer photo? That's a moot argume... moreWhat are those 2 phones that use quad-bayer and with better texture? Mate 30 pro and Iphone11? I'm seriously interested, because I assumed it was the quad bayer that made the texture effect I can't stand (particularly visible on white cars for exemple, that just look added to the photo) since all the phones I looked at the review here, that used a quad bayer, had this effect more or less. But it could be only a trend in post process, I would gladly accept that. And I stopped to look at review after choosing the Sony, so I stopped at the P30pro/S10/Reno 10x launchs, I don't know a lot about the last one.

                          Anonymous, 08 Nov 2019You have no idea what you're talking about.Anonymous is right, though. Sony said it themselves in the interview, there was a clear barrier between Sony's camera and mobile division, that the former didn't want to give anything valuable to the latter. The tension got loosened a little bit after the former head of the camera division became in charge of mobile.

                            Anonymous, 07 Nov 20191) Pixel Shift is for static subject only. Tripod is requir... more1) Some phones are smart enough to achieve the similar effect using handshake.

                            2) Apple, Google, Huawei use tile based frame aligning to prevent ghosting effect in HDR processing. The first two companies also utilise always-on ZSL HDR by default, so not much excuse you can make here - Sony Mobile is simply not being competent enough compared to the top performers when it comes to developing image processing algorithms.

                            3) Yes, that's because using a larger sensor on Xperia lineup would piss off the camera division. Otherwise why couldn't have they just made their custom version of 40MP/48MP Quad Bayer sensors with DRAM inside? Why went for the 1/2.55" sensor instead?

                            4) I saw that as well, and it certainly sounded like a poor make-up story by fans of a company who couldn't get the post processing right on their flagship phone. They test image quality in auto, Nokia messed up the auto mode, and so they got what they deserved. With that said, however, I also found it quite suspicious when I saw them saying they changed the video recording resolution to non-default 4K from 1080p. Why didn't they do the same for other phones? It's really fishy.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 0V7
                              • 08 Nov 2019

                              Anonymous, 08 Nov 2019Sony is in a s..t situation: to make better sensors for pho... moreYou have no idea what you're talking about.

                                Hildr, 08 Nov 2019Not really, I wouldn't change my xperia 1 camera for a sams... moreA water paint washed Quad Bayer photo? That's a moot argument since two smartphone cameras with the best texture rendition use Quad Bayer/Tetracell sensors and they are certainly better than Xperia 1's main camera, all things considered. A 48MP Quad Bayer sensor can still resolve more details than the regular 12MP one if the processing is mature enough.

                                You're right about Xperia flagships capturing better textures than Galaxy, but honestly, almost any mid range/high end phone cameras can.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • mEA
                                  • 08 Nov 2019

                                  Sony is in a s..t situation: to make better sensors for phones or cameras?! If they bring out better sensors their camera department will be hurt in sales. If they don't, they can loose a big part of phone market to Samsung&others.

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                                    • Razor
                                    • YWi
                                    • 08 Nov 2019

                                    So this is the rumored 60 MP quad pixel image sensor.

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                                      • vga
                                      • 6XT
                                      • 08 Nov 2019

                                      WOW what a dynamic range! Realistic pictures, well done, Sony!

                                        sony sensors are way superior to samsung . Waiting for this one