Stories about potentially new Sony camera sensors have been in the news a lot lately.
It seems to have been a busy few months for Sony in regards to rumored new camera sensors. First we heard about a potential sensor that could be a 60 Megapixel beast capable of 8K and 16-bit RAW. Now the world is being told about another potential new shutter that could be a 72 Megapixel monster featuring a global shutter instead of a rolling shutter. Read on past the break to find out more about this reported piece of silicon.
It really should come as no surprise to anyone that Sony is constantly in the news in regards to new camera sensors. They’ve been supplying the vast majority of sensors to manufacturers for a few years now, and their research and development team is well versed in pushing past boundaries when it comes to what their megapixel munching sensors can do.
If the news is true, the reported 72 Megapixel global shutter sensor from Sony will surely break new ground. The new 72 Megapixel global shutter from Sony was first talked about at Sony Alpha Rumors after they were informed that the latest reported sensor will more than likely be developed for industrial use. What’s the difference between the more common rolling shutters found in most consumer cameras and global shutters though?
Rolling shutters are the most common type of sensor found in consumer-grade cameras. This type of sensor scans the image starting from the top then working left to right and down the sensor until every line has been scanned. This is similar to how old CRT television sets used to work with each line of the image being drawn separately by the cathode ray tubes.
Global shutters work by scanning the whole image at once, which is more akin to how newer televisions generate an image. Global shutters are therefore faster than their rolling sensor brothers, and can generate higher quality images. But increased power and performance generates one thing that manufactures have a hard time dealing with; heat.
The reasoning that this potential new sensor has been slated for industrial use is more than likely due to potential heat related issues.
Smaller, consumer Mirrorless cameras do not have the capacity to dissipate heat fast enough. Recent Sony Mirrorless cameras (particularly the A7R II when it was first released) would shut down quite frequently so that they wouldn’t suffer damage from the heat being generated. There is no doubt that a monster sensor like the one being reported would generate a ton of heat, and therefore it being used in much larger ,industrial-use cameras that can stay cooler makes sense.
What do you think about this potential new sensor from Sony? Do you think overheating in consumer based cameras will become a thing of the past? Let us know your thoughts about this in the comment section below.
