Sony Might Be Developing a 72-megapixel Image Sensor with Global Shutter

Its been a month packed with rumors regarding various types of sensors Sony is currently developing and likely releasing throughout 2019 from full-frame 8K sensors for their own high-end cameras to other variations for their competitors, which is great for the bottom line. The latest according to SonyAlphaRumors is a full-frame 72-megapixel image sensor that offers global shutter.Just got word of a new 72MP FF global shutter sensor from Sony, 3.

45um pixel architecture (FF version of IMX342). Of course its more geared towards industrial use with mediocre image quality. It could be a result of competition from Canon and ON Semi that they all taped out FF GS sensors.

Not knowing what the difference was, I did a little bit of digging and came across this from B&H Photo:What is rolling shutter? For those who are not familiar, rolling shutter is a technical term referring to the way the image sensor scans the image. If the sensor employs a rolling shutter, this means the image is scanned sequentially, from one side of the sensor (usually the top) to the other, line by line.

Many CMOS sensors use rolling shutters. In contrast to that, global shutter is the technical term referring to sensors that scan the entire area of the image simultaneously. The vast majority of CCD sensors employ global shutter scanning.

The overwhelming prevalence of CMOS sensors in modern cameras explains the increasing appearance of rolling shutter artifacts in videos and films made recently.So is a global shutter better than a rolling shutter? Depends.

On that note, why have a rolling shutter at all? Implementing it, in most cases, seems to only bring doom and gloom to your images over the older global shutter design of CCDs, right? Not so fast.

Like basically everything that exists in this world through manufacture, the name of the game is compromise. Generally speaking, if you were to compare two equivalent sensors strictly on performance, one with a global shutter and the other with a rolling shutter, you will likely see that the rolling-shutter sensor will have less noise and a wider dynamic range while generating less heat. Now, a global-shutter sensor can be developed to compensate for those aspects, but the costs of developing and manufacturing a sensor with those capabilities will be dramatically higher.

In essence, rolling shutter sensors provide good performance metrics while keeping costs down.With such a high-megapixel count and the implementation of global shutter, its likely that the sensor Sony is developing is aimed at industrial use, like film cameras where price point and larger size (better for heat dispensation) isnt a problem. Even if price wasnt a factor, heat is one of the biggest problem that faces mirrorless cameras which are frequently coming in bodies smaller than traditional DSLRs while offering more capabilities like filming in 4K and in the near future, likely 8K.

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