After the release of Xiaomi Mi 8, it won the praise of the outside world. Aside from Notch’s design, everyone thought that Mi 8 might be the best Smartphone of Xiaomi to use. The product has excellent performance and a very powerful camera, which makes users really feel the charm of the 8th-anniversary flagship. The Mi 8 series continues the core selling point of low price and high distribution and has become the flagship handset with the most cost-effective Snapdragon 845.
Although the Mi 8 series has received great attention, Its Notch’s design has also been criticized by many users and Mi fans. We believe that this product is a bit of like and dislike. Today there is news that Xiaomi will launch a small series in the second half of the year. Upgraded Smartphones, or will be named Xiaomi Mi 8S. The core feature of this upcoming device that it will be equipped with more mature screen fingerprint or 3D structured light. It is not as comprehensive as the transparent probe Mi 8, but it has the more mature technology to join.
The Xiaomi Mi 8S will choose a latest IMX586 camera sensor of Sony, which has an effective pixel count of 48 million, enabling four-in-one pixels, 0.8um for a single pixel, up to 1.6um for composite pixels and 90FPS slow video recording at 4k resolution.
Sony, the image sensor manufacturer, officially released the latest smartphone image sensor code-named IMX586, with an effective pixel count of 48 million, more than 40 million pixels for Huawei P20 Pro and 41 million pixels for Nokia Lumia 1020. Digital SLR cameras are comparable, pixel sizes are as small as 0.8μm, and photosensitive components are only 1/2 inch (diagonal length 8.0mm).
The launch of the Sony IMX586 shows that the time to grow a new generation of smartphones should be coming soon.
The report pointed out that Sony’s CMOS image sensor for the first time achieved the world’s smallest pixel size of 0.8μm. Sony said that in general, the smaller the pixel size, the lower the light collection efficiency per pixel unit, and the lower the sensitivity will further reduce the saturation signal. However, the design and manufacturing technology of the IMX586 has greatly improved the light collection rate and photoelectric conversion rate and has the characteristics of high sensitivity and high saturation signal.
The following figure is a comparison of the past (effective pixels 12 million) with the IMX586 (effective pixels 48 million) Samples
According to Sony, the new image sensor uses an array of Quad Bayer color filters, and the adjacent 2 × 2 pixels use the same color for high-sensitivity shooting. When shooting in dim light, signals from four adjacent pixels are combined to increase sensitivity to a level equivalent to 1.6μm pixels (12MP), resulting in bright and low-noise images. In the bright environment such as daytime outdoor, the structure is transformed by its independent signal processing function, and high-definition images with effective pixels up to 48 million can be output in real time.
Quad Bayer array structure transformation diagram
This is similar to the way Huawei and Nokia phones achieved ultra-high resolution. The same is true for the 40MP IMX 600 sensor that Huawei and Sony have customized for the P20 Pro. At night, 4 pixels can be combined to produce a high-sensitivity, brighter, clearer 10MP photo.
To put it simply, in the future, a mobile phone equipped with an IMX 586 sensor will have a full 48MP camera during the day and a 12MP camera with a super-sampling reduction of 1.6 μm at night. Because small pixels of 0.8μm are difficult to capture enough light to take higher-brightness photos, pixel synthesis essentially achieves larger pixels, capturing more light at the expense of resolution.
In turn, the IMX 586 achieves 4x higher dynamic range imaging and real-time imaging. Sony said: “The IMX586 sensor has built-in Sony’s unique exposure control technology and signal processing functions, achieving 4 times higher dynamic range imaging and real-time imaging. Even if the contrast between the pictures is strong, it can prevent overexposure and exposure. Insufficient problems can be detected and captured in real time through a display terminal such as a smartphone.” Therefore, although the night shot is only a 12MP photo at the expense of resolution, it is “realized”. Double the high dynamic range”.
In addition, the Sony IMX586 image sensor can also shoot a variety of video 4K/90fps, 1080p/240fps and 720p/480fps, but does not support 1080P@960fps ultra-high frame rate slow motion video supported by Sony’s flagship today. The new image sensor, Sony is expected to start supply in September 2018, costing 3,000 yen, about $440.
This means that we may have to wait until the 4th quarter of 2018 or early 2019 to see the Smartphone with the IMX586 sensor, but this may require the vendor to independently develop the ISP image signal processor, or wait for Qualcomm to release a chip that integrates the new ISP, as currently SD 845’s ISP only supports up to 32MP sensors, so 2019 flagship should be “SD 855 will support 48MP camera”, which means that the Xiaomi Mi 8S or even Mi 9 will be equipped with this sensor. The news is still very shocking, to know that Xiaomi Mi 8 camera is powerful, but there is still a certain gap compared to Huawei P20 pro.
In terms of hardware performance, Xiaomi has always been ahead of other mobile phone manufacturers, but with the continuous innovation of OPPO FIND X and Vivo NEX, it has already brought the advantage of Xiaomi in hardware innovation. At the same time, Huawei P and M series have been taking photos. Under the support of Leica certification, we received very good user feedback and word of mouth. The photo has always been the shortboard of Xiaomi. Although the independent camera division was established, the investment in hardware is relatively conservative, perhaps in the future, Xiaomi Mi 8S or even Mi 9 will see some changes.
Read Also: Xiaomi Mi Mix 3: New Concept Shows A Full-Screen Design With Quad Rear Cameras
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