Think about a lot of the issues that you currently have with your camera’s performance: moire, rolling shutter (in video), ISO performance, under 10fps burst mode, etc. All of these issues would no longer be a problem if this rumor about some upcoming Sony sensor tech is legit.

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According to a report over on Sony Alpha Rumors, which is rating this rumor an SR4 (out of 5, with 5 being most reliable), Sony is poised to announce a new “Active-Pixel Color Sampling” sensor in 2015. This new sensor is technology completely different from what is in your current camera, which is based on Bayer methodology. This is also completely different from Foveon or other multi-layer technology.

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Unlike the two technologies above, which in their own way require pixels to be red, green, or blue color dedicated, this new Sony Active-Pixel Color Sampling sensor allows for each individual pixel to record red, green or blue. This means no need for dedicated color layers (Foveon), and no need for interpolating (Bayer). Now, this may sound simple, but the effects are wide and far reaching.

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In theory, this 4.81 MP sensor would produce images at roughly the same resolution as a 19MP Bayer Sensor-based camera. The pixels are larger, 4 times larger in fact, meaning better low-light/high ISO performance (rivaling/surpassing the A7s fairly easily). A camera using this sensor would also likely be able to shoot at greater FPS bursts than current Bayer sensors, which rely on their processors to interpolate the RGB data. On this sensor, all the data comes as-is, meaning the same processor from your Bayer-based camera could support much higher continuous frame rates.

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This is quite exciting stuff, if it does see the light of day and is viable in the market. The rumor is that Sony will announce the new ‘APCS’ tech in 2015, possibly releasing a new device utilizing the tech towards the end of the year.

Sony has already been on a tear in the photographic industry, coming out with tech like this. If it works as advertised above, it would almost certainly bring photographers in droves from the competition. I am very interested to see where this goes, and how it turns out.

[via Sony Alpha Rumors]