Sony IMX318 CMOS image sensor announced – 1/2.6-inch, 22.5MP, 3-Axis Image Stabilization

Sony has unveiled its latest CMOS Exmor RS image sensor designed for smartphones – the IMX318. Sony’s latest camera chip boasts to be the industry’s first to offer built-in 3-way electronic image stabilization technology and high-speed hybrid autofocus (as fast as 0.03 seconds) in one chip.

The Sony IMX318 has a 1-2.6-inch stacked CMOS with 22.5 effective megapixels. Shipments begin in May 2016 – just in time for the Xperia Z6 launch, which is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2016.



Sony says that it created the IMX318 sensor for smartphones that require “increasingly better cameras and thinner form factors.” The IMX318 is the successor to the IMX230 with 1/2.4-inch sensor and 1.12?m unit pixel size. Sony says that the new IMX318 does not suffer in image quality despite the smaller pixel size (1.0?m unit) versus the IMX230. It has done this by “manufacturing technology that improves light utilization efficiency, as well as circuit design technology that eliminates noise”.

Sony adopted MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) Alliance’s latest C-PHY 1.0/D-PHY 1.2 specifications for this image sensor’s interface. Other features include 4K video recording at 30fps, HDR imaging with RAW image format.

Sony IMX318 Stacked CMOS Exmor RS Image Sensor