Preamble:
The first flagship phone was the original Xplay that came out in 2013, and its rear camera was equipped with Sony's first stacked sensor IMX135, paired with a high-resolution 5P lens with an f/2.2 aperture.
The Xplay3S, which was released at the end of the same year, switched to OmniVision's 13 million pixel back-illuminated sensor, reversing from Sony's more advanced stacked technology to OmniVision's back-illuminated technology, making the biggest highlight of this generation is the lens with an F/1.8 ultra-large aperture.
Released in 2014, Xshot is not only equipped with optical image stabilization for the first time, but also has an F/1.8 ultra-large aperture 6P lens, combined with Sony's flagship IMX214 at that time and the first dual-color temperature flash in China, the overall image configuration can be described as extremely luxurious!
1，索尼 IMX298 / IMX362
Xshot, which has an extremely luxurious image configuration, died due to poor sales, and the blue flagship Xplay5 released in 2016 did not roll up in terms of images, but introduced Samsung's hyperboloid screen, which was the most eye-catching hardware configuration at the time.
For example, optical image stabilization is castrated, and the lens aperture is reduced to f/2.0 due to the widening of the base. However, due to the fact that the optical quality of the lens is still excellent, combined with the star sensor Sony IMX298 of the year, the overall performance can still squeeze into the middle and upper level of the flagship.
The IMX298 features a combination of PDAF and RGBW and deep slot isolation, resulting in outstanding performance in terms of focusing speed, low-light signal-to-noise ratio, color performance, etc., and supports 4K/30fps video recording like Xshot.
The Xplay6, which was released at the end of the same year, finally shifted the focus of the stacking to the imaging side, so optical image stabilization returned, and the lens aperture was advanced to f/1.75.
The Sony IMX362 carried by this generation is actually the Gen2 architecture version of Samsung's customized IMX260, so it also supports the best all-pixel dual-core focusing technology at that time, and its basic parameters are 1/2.55 inch, 12.2 million pixels, and 1.4 microns.
Although the lens aperture and sensor have been significantly larger, this generation has ensured the image quality of the corners by improving the optical quality of the lens, and as for the focusing speed, it is simply a qualitative change!
2, Samsung GN1
In 2017, the blue factory took another year of "rest" on the flagship strategy, and it was not until 2018 that the new NEX series was drummed up, and it was updated until 2020, during which the rear main camera was equipped with two sensors, Sony IMX363 and Samsung GW1, respectively.
During this period, although the main camera performance was not bad, there was still a significant gap from the top level of the flagship, and even on the NEX3 and NEX3S machines, the optical image stabilization of the main camera was castrated.
However, with the birth of the X50 Pro+ in June 2020, the blue factory relies on the hard power created by the pursuit of lens optical quality over the years, combined with the Samsung GN1 sensor, 7P lens and new algorithm, its main camera imaging level directly reached the top in the flagship camp!
First of all, the basic parameters of GN1 are 1/1.31 inch, 50 million pixels, 1.2 microns, the default four-in-one output is 2.4 micron large pixels, and it supports all-pixel dual-core focusing, Smart-ISO (i.e., double conversion gain), QBC-HDR and other technologies.
Based on Samsung's latest ISOCELL Plus technology, which uses innovative DTI materials and optimizes the light absorption capacity of the microlens, it has minimal light loss and light reflection, and can be combined with a single pixel dual PD to generate 100 million pixel photos through algorithms. In addition, for the first time, 8K/30fps video recording is supported.
Since the main camera aperture has been changed to f/1.8 in the NEX series, the aperture value of this super large cup has been fine-tuned to f/1.85, combined with the sensor's pixel size improvement, this generation of main camera has more than doubled the overall light intake increase!
3. Zeiss empowerment + computing power assist
After the blue factory tasted the sweetness on the GN1, it calmed down and focused on polishing this sensor. Later, the X60 Pro+ released in 2021, the focal length began to change to 23mm, and the Zeiss T* coating was introduced for the first time in the main camera, and the aperture was greatly increased to f/1.57!
- The X70 Pro+, released in September of the same year, continued to introduce the "1G+6P" lens, and the newly introduced glass lens not only reduced the chromatic aberration of the field of view by 70% compared with the previous generation design, but also increased the center transmittance by 2% compared with the traditional lens, and adopted the AOA dynamic optical calibration process.
The comprehensive efficacy can be summarized as follows: effectively solve the problem of purple fringing and false color in high-contrast scenes, and have a higher purity, and the light calibration criterion can further improve the resolution. In addition, glass lenses have the physical property of resisting thermal expansion and contraction (low temperature drift).
In the X60 Pro+ generation, the ZEISS T* coating consisted only of a composite multilayer coating and a nanocrystalline structure coating – both of which are found on the front and back of each lens in the main camera, as well as the first IRCF pigment spin coating process (which improves red light absorption).
- Thanks to the combination of the ZEISS T* coating and pigment spin coating process, both glare and ghosting problems are improved. In the X70 Pro+, the world's only ALD coating and SWC ultra-low reflection AR coating have been introduced into the mobile phone lens, which further improves the image purity and significantly improves the problem of glare and ghosting.
Among them, the ALD coating process makes the uniform reflectivity of the lens reach about 0.25%, and the SWC coating technology reduces the reflectivity of the lens surface from 0.8% to 0.1% in the previous generation!
Along with the X70 Pro+, there is also the first professional image chip V1 from the Blue Factory, which took two years and a R&D team of more than 300 people to work with, which can not only cooperate with the main chip, but also reduce power consumption through specially designed hardware algorithm circuits.
By optimizing the storage architecture and high-speed read/write circuits of data inside the chip, the blue factory has also achieved a large cache equivalent to 32MB, which can achieve low latency and real-time noise reduction and frame insertion through this full-chip storage capability.
In addition, V1 can not only process complex operations at high speed like CPUs, but also complete parallel data processing like GPUs and DSPs, so its energy efficiency ratio is exponentially improved compared with DSPs and CPUs in the face of a large number of complex operations.
Based on the empowerment of ZEISS optical design and the assistance of the computing power of self-developed image chips, the X70 Pro+ also adds two new features, SuperRAW and ZEISS Natural Color, to provide a broader creative space for users who like to do post-production.
4, Sony IMX989
It can be seen that compared with those mobile phone peers who like to replace the main camera sensor of the mobile phone, the blue factory prefers to polish an excellent sensor, and squeeze out more potential of the main camera by upgrading the algorithm and iterating the lens quality, so as to continue to lead.
Since then, although the X80 series has been absent for the first time in 2022, the new X90 Pro+ was born in November of the same year, and ushered in a new main camera sensor and supporting lens hardware.
Since the Sony IMX989 is 77% larger than the Samsung GNV (that is, GN1's filter customization) carried by the X80 Pro, the size of a single pixel is directly 77%, so even if the aperture value is reduced to F/1.75 due to the large bottom, its comprehensive light intake is still increased by 43%.
In addition, the main camera of this generation of super large cups has been upgraded to a "1G+7P" structure, and a new ALC sub-wavelength bionic structure coating with a significant reduction in the average reflectivity has been introduced, which has significantly improved its ability to resist glare and ghosting.
In terms of self-developed image chips, the all-new V2 not only retains various algorithm circuits of the previous generation V1+ chips (such as the "night vision" algorithm), but also introduces the FIT dual-core interconnection technology that realizes optimal coordination and high-speed collaboration with the SoC for AI computing tasks.
For the first time, the V2 also includes a near-memory DLA (Deep Learning Accelerator) component, and has up to 45MB of on-chip SRAM cache, which is supported by abundant computing power, and supports 14-bit SuperRAW and Dolby Vision HDR recording for the first time.
Summary:
Although the earliest "image miracle" Xshot generation of the blue factory has died, its pursuit of lens optical quality has not stopped, but in the Xplay era and the NEX era, the algorithm power of the blue factory has not yet reached home.
It wasn't until June 2020, when the X50 Pro+, the first super-large cup model, was released, that the algorithm level of the blue factory began to usher in a qualitative change, and in December of the same year, it reached a strategic cooperation with the optical design giant Zeiss and established a joint imaging laboratory.
Since then, the blue factory has begun to make additions on the road of main photography, and Zeiss T* coating, glass-plastic hybrid lenses, V series image chips, algorithm systems, etc., have also ushered in their own iterative journeys, and continue to strengthen the image leadership of the blue factory.
For example, the X100 Pro released in November 2023 will continue to bring a new generation of ZEISS coating and precision transition technology, and next, the X100 Ultra, which can fully represent the comprehensive strength of Blue Factory Imaging, will also be released soon!
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