Sony showcases ISO 51,200 dual cam module and ISP at MWC 2018

Sony might have booked the early Monday attention to itself with the new Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact, but another tech grabbed our attention. The Japanese company demoed a dual-cam prototype that can capture images in extremely low-light environments with up to ISO 51200 and take videos with ISO 12800.

Closer look of the dual cam module and the Fusion ISP

In an ultra-dark situation, the new ISP, called Sony Fusion, fires off simultaneously two cameras to maximize the light intake and to process the signal into an image. Sadly, we have seen this technology only on a demo unit, Sony is staying silent on an eventual commercial launch, but hopefully, it will hit devices as early as this year.

Allowing the staggering ISO 51200 would be groundbreaking for smartphones. Right now the human eye is comparable to ISO 1600, most cheap digital cameras take photos with no more than ISO6400, but the numbers Sony is aiming to reach with the Fusion ISP are possible only with an interchangeable lens camera.