Smartphone cameras have improved significantly in recent years, and the image quality of phones will finally surpass that of their single-lens rivals in 2024, according to Sony.
President and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS), Terushi Shimizu, has declared that “we hope that the still images [of smartphones] surpass the image quality of single-lens reflex cameras in the coming years.”
Some slides shown were more specific, and one of them showed that, according to Sony, “It is expected that still images exceed the image quality of ILCs [interchangeable lens cameras]» sometime in 2024.
The term “ILC” includes today’s mirrorless cameras, along with older DSLR technology that most manufacturers are abandoning.
Sony points to a few factors such as “quantum saturation” and improvements in “AI processing” as technologies that will drive this improvement. Interestingly, Sony also hopes that sensor size in “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 “bring a new imaging experience to life ”including improved Super HDR modes and zooms that combine folded lenses (as in the Sony Xperia 1 IV) with AI algorithms.
Sony also highlighted the development of its “transistor two-layer pixel technology ”which we already heard about last year, which promises to drastically improve the dynamic range in phone cameras and help reduce noise in low light.
According to Sony’s presentation, there will also be similar developments in the field of video with higher readout speeds from next-generation sensors that will enable 8K video, multi-frame processing (including video HDR), and the general realization of “AI processing for video.”
