About the IMX294 Sensor

The Sony Starvis IMX294CJK Exmor R is a 21.63 mm diagonal (Type 4/3), 10.7 megapixel, back-illuminated color CMOS sensor. Sony has commercialized the IMX294CJK Type 4/3 back-illuminated CMOS image sensor for low light applications. The IMX294CJK is the first in-house image sensor to adopt the Type 4/3 format and realize output of the number of pixels needed for 4K video at 120 frame/s (in ADC 10-bit output mode). In addition, use of a large-size pixel achieves SNR1s of 0.14 lx, and use of a Quad Bayer pixel structure realizes a High Dynamic Range function with no time difference, enabling video imaging with a wide dynamic range.

STARVIS is a trademark of Sony Corporation. The STARVIS is back-illuminated pixel technology used in CMOS image sensors for low light applications and realizes high picture quality in the visible-light and near infrared light regions.

Exmor R is a Sony's CMOS image sensor with significantly enhanced imaging characteristics including sensitivity and low noise by changing fundamental structure of Exmor™ pixel adopted column parallel A/D converter to back-illuminated type.

Supports Type 4/3 4K output

The IMX294CJK adopts Type 4/3 as the optical size, and supports various output formats (angle of view) including 10M (3704 × 2778) for aspect ratio 4:3, UHD (3840 × 2160) for 16:9, and 4096 × 2160 for 17:9. In addition, the A/D converter can be selected from 10 bits, 12 bits, and 14 bits according to the application.

Exceptional low-illumination performance

Exceptional low-illumination performance of SNR1s: 0.14 lx is realized by use of a large-size optical system and by expanding the area per pixel to 4.63 µm. This makes the IMX294CJK ideal for applications that require low-illumination performance.

Quad Bayer Coding HDR

The IMX294CJK uses a Quad Bayer structure, and outputs data binned in 2 × 2 pixel units in normal mode. In HDR mode, integration can be divided into long-time integration and short-time integration for each 2 pixels in the Quad array. In this case there is no time difference between long-time integration and short-time integration, which realizes HDR with little blending offset when imaging moving subjects.