OMNIVISION launches ultra-high dynamic range image sensor for smartphones

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OMNIVISION, a developer of advanced digital imaging, analogue and display solutions, has unveiled the OV50X CMOS image sensor.

A photographic example of OMNIVISION's new image sensor Credit: OMNIVISION

Said to have the mobile phone industry’s highest dynamic range, for movie-grade video capture, the OV50X is a 50-megapixel (MP) sensor with a 1.6-micron (µm) pixel in a 1-inch optical format. The sensor has been designed for flagship smartphones that require high dynamic range (HDR) video and preview with single exposure, enhanced low-light performance, fast autofocus and high frame rates.

“Smartphones are used in the majority of video and photo capture today, and cinematic-quality video recording has become a highly demanded feature among consumers for flagship mobile phones,” explained Takuritsu Li, marketing manager, OMNIVISION. “Our OV50X image sensor features a large 1-inch optical format image sensor that provides close to 110 decibel (dB) single-exposure HDR; consumers can now own a smartphone capable of superior video and photo capture, even in challenging capture conditions.”

The OV50X supports 4-cell binning for 12.5MP at 180 frames per second (fps) and 60 fps with three-channel HDR. It also offers premium-quality 8K video with dual analogue gain (DAG) HDR and on-sensor crop zoom.

OMNIVISION’s TheiaCel technology further expands single exposure HDR close to 110 dB—the highest range possible in smartphones. The sensor also supports 100% coverage quad phase detection (QPD) for best-in-class autofocus performance. The OV50X is built on OMNIVISION’s PureCel Plus-S stacked-die technology.

The OV50X is sampling now and will be in mass production in Q3 2025.