What if your phone’s zoom camera could capture more detail, focus faster, and record 4K video at higher frame rates? A new sensor aims to make that possible.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation has announced the LYTIA 610, a 64-megapixel stacked CMOS image sensor for smartphones. The sensor is the first to enter mass production with Sony’s new RB2×2 On-Chip Lens (OCL) pixel structure, designed to improve both image resolution and autofocus performance.
The sensor combines the RB2×2 OCL design with a dedicated remosaicing algorithm that processes image data specifically for this pixel arrangement. Together, these technologies deliver more than 20% higher spatial resolution than Sony’s LYTIA 601 sensor, which uses the same 0.7 µm pixel size. The improvement allows telephoto cameras in smartphones to capture finer details while maintaining accurate autofocus.
The CMOS image sensor uses two different lens structures within a single Quad Bayer sensor. Green pixels, which contribute most to image detail, use a 1×1 OCL structure to maximize resolution. Red and blue pixels use a 2×2 OCL structure, where four pixels share a single lens, enabling phase-detection autofocus. Sony developed manufacturing techniques that allow both lens structures to coexist on the same sensor surface.
In addition to image-quality improvements, Sony has increased sensor readout speed by optimizing its analog-to-digital conversion circuitry and increasing processing parallelization. The result is data readout speeds twice as fast as previous Sony 1/2-type sensors.
The higher speed enables 4K video recording at 120 frames per second, a first for Sony’s 1/2-type image sensors. The sensor also supports 4K HDR video at 60 fps, allowing smartphones to capture smooth slow-motion footage and scenes with high contrast.
The company says the improvements help reduce differences in image quality between main and secondary smartphone cameras, creating a more consistent experience across multi-camera systems.
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