Sony reveals new LYTIA 901 mobile image sensor with 200MP

With a pixel array format that delivers both high resolution and high sensitivity, the new LYTIA 901 sensor achieves high-definition image quality even with high-powered zooming of up to 4x on monocular cameras.

The new 200MP sensor from Sony Semiconductor Solutions – a first for the company – for mobile applications comes with built-in AI technology. Sony says that the incorporated AI learning-based remosaicing directly in the  LYTIA 901 sensor enables high-speed processing and up to 30 fps high- quality video capture when shooting with up to 4x zoom in 4K resolution.

The new sensor uses a pixel pitch of 0.7 μm for an approximately 200-effective megapixel resolution on a 1/1.12 large-format sensor. Advances in pixel structure and color filter design increase, Sony claims, the saturation signal level, contributing to improved dynamic range.

To leverage the high resolution of approximately 200-effective megapixels, the new product employs a Quad-Quad Bayer Coding (QQBC) array in which 16 (4×4) adjacent pixels are clustered with filters of the same color. During normal shooting, the signals of the 16 clustered pixels are processed as a single pixel unit, allowing the camera to maintain high sensitivity even at night and in dim indoor shooting conditions. On the other hand, during zoom shooting, a form of array conversion processing known as remosaicing reverts the clustered pixels to a normal pixel array, to deliver high-resolution imaging.

Array conversion processing (remosaicing), which reverts the QQBC array to a normal pixel array, requires extremely advanced calculation processes. For this product, Sony has developed a new AI learning-based remosaicing for the QQBC array and mounted the processing circuit inside the sensor, for another Sony industry-first. This new technology makes it possible to process high-frequency component signals, which are generally difficult to reproduce, offering superior reproduction of details such as fine patterns and letters.  Furthermore, as noted above, incorporating AI learning-based remosaicing directly in the sensor enables high-speed processing and up to 30 fps high- quality video capture when shooting with up to 4x zoom in 4K resolution.

As expected, Sony continues to explore high dynamic range and rich tonal expression enabled by various HDR technologies. In addition to Dual Conversion Gain‐HDR (DCG-HDR) technology, which composites data read at different gain settings in a single frame, the new sensor is equipped with Fine12bit ADC (AD converter) technology that improves the quantization bit depth from the conventional 10 bits to 12. These features deliver a high dynamic range and rich tonal expression across the entire zoom range up to 4x.

The LYTIA 901 sensor also features HF-HDR technology that delivers better performance. Hybrid Frame-HDR (HF-HDR) is an HDR technology that composites frames captured in short exposures with DCG data on a post-processing application processor. HF-HDR significantly improves the dynamic range compared to conventional HDR technology, delivering performance of over 100 dB (effective in 16-pixel additive mode). This significantly suppresses highlight blowout in bright areas, as well as blackout in dark areas, delivering images that more closely resemble what the human eye actually sees.