Sony Semiconductor Solutions, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of image sensors, has announced its next release: the IMX611. It is a new SPAD direct time-of-flight (dToF) depth sensor that offers the highest sectoral photon detection efficiency.
The novelty is aimed mainly at photographic compartments of smartphones that offer functions and applications based on information from a distance. Because of its SPAD pixel structure, acronym for Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (in Italian “Single photon photodetector diode”), the IMX611 achieves a photon detection efficiency of 28%being able to detect even very faint photons that were emitted by the light source and reflected from the object, reduces the energy consumption of the entire system and, at the same time, allows high-precision measurement of the distance to an object.
This sensor is therefore able to improve autofocus performance in low visibility environments, apply a more accurate bokeh effect to the background of the photographed object and seamlessly switch between wide-angle and telephoto cameras. The IMX611 also allows 3D spatial recognition, AR Occlusion, motion capture, gesture recognition and other similar functions. Consequently, it is also suitable for VR and AR devices that will be more and more in demand in the coming years.
The sensor has 23,000 effective pixels, 2.2 mm diagonal, SPAD pixels of 10.08 x 10.08 µm and precision with an error rate of less than 0.1%. The first commercial samples of the IMX611 will be available in March and, therefore, may be on devices that will be sold from the second half.
What did you think of Sony’s news? Do you believe that the sensor will bring innovations to device cameras? Leave your comment below!
