Sony has just posted images of this tiny action camera it’s currently developing. It’s adorable, but seriously, how the heck is a camera that small going to produce high-quality HD video? It’s got solid guts — and not the kind you need to go skydiving.
We actually know two very important components Sony’s testing out: the lens and the sensor. First up is the Exmor R CMOS image sensor. Sony developed this sensor technology a few years ago when camera makers were trying to stuff as many megapixels as they could onto sensors. It’s a problem, because past a certain point, the pixels get so small that they have a hard time capturing light. The R CMOS sensor is back-lit rather than front-lit. Moving the camera’s electronics behind the sensor’s photodiodes leaves more room for the megapixels to breathe. Furthermore, Carl Zeiss Tessar-style lenses are famous for their sharpness, and when you’re trying to focus the ultra-wide angle shots onto a a tiny sensor, every bit of sharpness counts. [Sony via Engadget]