Smartphone cameras and DSLRs have been moving in opposite directions for the past few years, and phone image quality will finally surpass that of rival single-lens DSLRs by 2024, according to Sony.
As reported by Nikkei Japan (opens in a new tab), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS) President and CEO Terushi Shimizu said during a business briefing that "we expect fixed images will exceed the image quality of cameras single-lens reflex in a few years".
Some of the fascinating slides (opens in a new tab) shown during the briefing were even more specific, with one slide showing Sony saying "stills must trump ILC." image quality" in the year 2024.
Those are two slightly different claims, with "ILC" also including today's mirrorless cameras, along with the older DSLR technology that most camera manufacturers are now largely abandoning.
But the broader takeaway remains: Far from hitting a technological ceiling, smartphones should continue their imaging evolution and, for most people, make standalone cameras redundant.
So what technology will drive this continued rise in the best phone cameras? Sony points to 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, he says, will allow phone makers to apply multi-frame processing that "realizes a new imaging experience," including enhanced Super HDR modes and zooms that combine optical folding (as on the Sony Xperia 1 IV) with AI Algorithms.
Sony also highlighted the development of its "dual-layer transistor pixel technology," which we heard about last year, which promises to dramatically improve the dynamic range of phone cameras and reduce low-brightness noise.
Similar advancements are coming for video, too, according to Sony's presentation, with higher readout speeds from next-generation sensors supporting 8K video, multi-frame processing (including HDR video), and a general realization of "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 about an industry it invests heavily in, there seems to be something solid behind its predictions about the continued evolution of phone cameras at the expense of DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
And that matters for all smartphones, because according to Statista (opens in a new tab), Sony has 42% of the global market for phone image sensors, while iPhone 13 Pro Max teardowns show it uses three Sony IMX 7 series sensors.
Analysis: Phones continue their meteoric rise
Predictions of the demise of DSLR cameras are nothing new: Without saying anything explicitly, Canon and Nikon have admitted that DSLRs are a legacy format by discontinuing certain models, like the Nikon D3500, without replacing them. But Sony's latest statement underlines that phone cameras still have a long way to go before they reach their technological ceiling.
The biggest advances in recent years have been in multiple image processing, also known as computational photography. But understandably, Sony was keen to highlight the role the new hardware will play in elevating the phone's cameras to new photographic heights.
His prediction that the sensor size of high-end phones will double by 2024 is a bit of a surprise, given that this is limited by factors like lenses. For example, the Sony Xperia Pro-I became the first Sony phone to have a 1-inch sensor last year, but its lens couldn't project an image circle large enough to cover that entire sensor, so that it could only take 12 MP photos. instead of the native 20MP resolution.
Perhaps more important is Sony's new stacked CMOS sensor with double-layer transistor pixels, exposing each pixel to twice as much light as a standard sensor. Sounds like a hardware breakthrough that computational algorithms could certainly grit their teeth on to improve dynamic range and noise performance.
But given how good the latest phones are when it comes to photography, the most notable advances in the coming years are likely to be in video. Sony's presentation underscored this with references to multi-frame processing and its Edge AI platform, which promises to improve both video performance and support for augmented reality applications.
While DSLR and mirrorless cameras will always have an audience among amateurs and professionals due to their unique handling, creative control, viewfinders and image quality, the kinds of advancements outlined in Sony's presentation show that the next few years will be a particularly exciting time. for phone cameras.