Sony Announces LYT-610 CMOS Image Sensor With 64-Megapixel Resolution, 4K 120fps Video Recording

Sony Semiconductor Solutions announced the LYT-610 CMOS image sensor for smartphones on Tuesday. It is primarily aimed at telephoto cameras and can deliver improved image resolution and autofocus performance, leveraging a new RB2×2 On-Chip Lens (OCL) pixel structure. Sony says LYT-610 is the first mass-produced sensor in the industry to utilise this design. The image sensor supports 4K video recording at up to 120 frames per second (fps) and is expected to be used in future smartphone camera systems.

Sony LYTIA 610 Features, Specifications

According to details published by Sony on Tuesday, the newly unveiled LYT-610 is a 1/2-inch CMOS image sensor with approximately 64 effective megapixels. It is said to bridge the gap between the image quality differences between primary and telephoto cameras. Like the recently unveiled LYT-910, it also uses a Quad Bayer colour filter arrangement, where four adjacent pixels are clustered with the same colour filters. This is claimed to combine high sensitivity and high resolution in a single sensor.

The highlight of the new image sensor is said to be its RB2×2 OCL pixel structure. The company says it combines two different lens designs on a single sensor to improve both image quality and autofocus performance. Green pixels use a 1×1 OCL structure to maximise image detail and resolution, while red and blue pixels utilise a 2×2 OCL design, allowing four pixels to share a single lens. Combined, they function as phase-detection autofocus (PDAF) points for faster and more accurate focusing.

This new structure is claimed to deliver more than 20 percent higher spatial resolution compared to its conventional sensor with the same 0.7-micron pixel size.

Apart from this, the sensor's readout speed has been improved using an upgraded analogue-to-digital conversion system. The logic circuits also use a finer manufacturing process that is said to lower the power consumption.

In terms of performance, Sony claims LYT-610 is the company's first 1/2-inch smartphone image sensor to support 4K video recording at 120fps. It also supports 4K 60fps HDR video capture, along with full-resolution 64-megapixel images at up to 24fps. When shooting in 16-megapixel resolution, users can capture 60fps images and 30fps DAG-HDR shooting modes.

The LYT-610 uses a MIPI C-PHY or D-PHY interface and supports output speeds of up to 4.5Gsps per trio on C-PHY and 2.5Gbps per lane on D-PHY.