Smartphone cameras and Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras have been moving in opposite directions for the past few years, and the image quality of phones will finally trump that of their smartphones. single-lens SLR rivals by 2024, according to Sony. Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS) President and CEO Terushi Shimizu said during a business briefing that we expect the stills [des smartphones] exceed the image quality of APRNs within a few years.
On May 27, 2022, Sony Group held a market briefing for the company’s imaging and sensing solutions business. According to the company, the market for image sensors for smartphones will continue to grow. Around 2019, it has been said that the three elements of battery, screen and camera will evolve in smartphones. While the other two are technically saturated, there are still expectations for the camera to evolve, Shimizu said. .
According to him, the market for image sensors should occupy the majority of smartphones even in 30 years’ time. The company previously said smartphone growth would slow in the future, but changed its outlook in light of changes in market trends. Indeed, high-end smartphones have contributed to rapidly accelerating the increase in the size of image sensors from fiscal 2010 and the unit price of sensors has increased.
Terushi Shimizu, President and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS), who spoke at the briefing.
“We expect stills to surpass the image quality of single-lens reflex cameras in the next few years,” Terushi Shimizu said when speaking regarding the outlook for cameras equipped with smartphones.
Some fascinating slides presented during the briefing were even more specific, with one slide showing that Sony says stills should exceed ILC image quality [appareil photo objectif interchangeable] during 2024.
Those are two slightly different claims, with ILCs also including today’s mirrorless cameras, alongside the older APRN technology that most camera makers are now largely abandoning.
But the larger conclusion remains – far from hitting a technological ceiling, smartphones should continue their evolution in imaging and, for most people, make standalone cameras redundant.
So what technology will drive this continued rise of the best phone cameras? Sony points out a few factors, including Quantum Saturation and AI processing improvements. Interestingly, Sony also expects the sensor size of high-end model phones to double by 2024.
The larger pixels of these sensors will, he says, allow phone makers to apply multi-frame processing that achieves a new imaging experience, including enhanced Super HDR modes and zooms that combine folded optics ( like on the Sony Xperia 1 IV) with AI Algorithms.
Sony also highlighted the development of its ‘two-layer transistor pixel’ technology, which we heard regarding last year, which promises to dramatically improve the dynamic range of phones’ cameras and reduce low-light noise.
Similar advances are also coming for video, according to Sony’s presentation, with the higher readout speeds of next-generation sensors supporting 8K video, multi-frame processing (including HDR video) and a general AI processing for video . In other words, computational video techniques like Apple’s cinematic mode.
While it’s not unusual for Sony to make bold predictions regarding an industry it invests heavily in, there seems to be substance behind its predictions for the continued evolution of phone cameras at the expense of DSLRs and DSLRs. mirrorless cameras.
And that’s important for all smartphones, because according to Statista, Sony has 42% of the global phone image sensor market, while iPhone 13 Pro Max teardowns show it uses three Sony IMX sensors from the 7 series.
And you?
Since the advent of the smartphone, do you ever use a stand-alone camera to take your photos? How often?
What do you think of the photo quality produced by high-end cameras today?
Does Sony’s projection seem reasonable to you?
