Sony’s new 200-megapixel camera sensor could top Samsung’s top snapper
Sony's new LYTIA-901 sensor promises 200-megapixel images with larger pixels than on its rivals.
Sony semi-conductor has announced its most advanced smartphone camera sensor yet – the company’s first capable of 200-megapixel photography.
The new LYTIA-901 sensor promises to be a market leader thanks to the 1/1.12-inch sensor size and the larger 0.7-micron pixels, which compares favourably the the Samsung sensor within its own Galaxy S25 Ultra.
The current Samsung flagship, the HP2 200MP sensor has a smaller 1/1.3-inch sensor size and 0.6-micron pixels. While you’ll do well to notice to the naked eye, in theory Sony’s sensor is better than Samsung’s.
On paper, it’ll be able to capture more light and provide more detailed images overall at the full resolution. The sensor, which isn’t yet confirmed for any 2026 handsets, also offers all-pixel autofocus along with 4x in-sensor zoom.
“The new sensor uses a pixel pitch of 0.7 μm for an approximately 200-effective megapixel resolution on a 1/1.12 large-format sensor,” Sony says in a press release. “Advances in pixel structure and colour filter design increase the saturation signal level, contributing to improved dynamic range.”
Sony is also utilising some generative AI technology to help with processing and detail reproduction when shooting both images and videos.
Sony is also pretty excited about a technology called Quad-Quad Bayer Coding “in which 16 (4×4) adjacent pixels are clustered with filters of the same color. During normal shooting, the signals of the 16 clustered pixels are processed as a single pixel unit, allowing the camera to maintain high sensitivity even at night and in dim indoor shooting conditions. On the other hand, during zoom shooting, a form of array conversion processing known as remosaicing reverts the clustered pixels to a normal pixel array, to deliver high-resolution imaging.”
So where will we see this sensor? Well, it won’t be in the Samsung Galaxy S26 series. Apple does use Sony sensors for iPhone cameras, but it doesn’t go all the way up to 200-megapixels. Some reports say Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi and Oppo might be fitting forthcoming handsets with the sensor.
Chris Smith
