Sony just announced its first LOFIC image sensor, the Lytia 910. “LOFIC” stands for “Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor”. In other words, it solves the issue of photodiodes becoming saturated by too much light by placing a capacitor next to each diode – this significantly increases the full well capacity of each pixel.
According to Sony, the Lytia 910 will have 100dB of dynamic range – with a single exposure! For comparison, a sensor like the Lytia 901 needs multi-frame exposure to get to 100dB.
The Sony Lytia 910 supports Triple Conversion Gain (TCG) HDR. This means that each pixel is read three times – with low, mid and high conversion gain. Then the three readouts are combined into a single HDR image.
This is how this sensor avoids common issues with the multi-frame approach to HDR, things like motion artifacts. It takes only one exposure but gets three readouts from it. This is great for HDR video too – the new sensor will be able to capture 4K 60fps HDR video. LOFIC sensors are also less susceptible to flickering light sources (which is why they are used in automotive cameras).
Additionally, there are Ultra High Conversion Gain circuits on the sensor, which kick in when there isn’t enough light – Sony says that these help reduce random noise by around 30% compared to its previous sensors.
The Sony Lytia 910 is a 1/1.28” sensor with 50MP resolution. It has a Quad Bayer filter and 1.22µm x 1.22µm pixels.
Mass production of the 910 will start this summer, so we expect to see the new sensor used in smartphones launching in Q4.
By the way, this isn’t the first LOFIC sensor. Back in 2024, the Honor Magic6 Ultimate had one with the 50MP OV50K from OmniVision. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra has another 50MP LOFIC sensor, the Light Fusion 1050L from OmniVision.
Before we wrap up, let’s dive into rumor land quickly. A couple of weeks ago, we saw a report that the vivo X500 Pro Max will use a 50MP 1/1.28” LOFIC sensor from Sony. And here it is. Samsung is also working on LOFIC sensors – we may see the first one with the Galaxy S27 Ultra. Also, let’s give it to Digital Chat Station – last year, the leakster reported that Sony will release a 1/1.3” LOFIC sensor.
