The Sony ICX681SQW is said to offer the industry's smallest pixel size, at just 1.43µm diagonal, and is notable for its use of stacked microlenses. Beneath the microlens layer seen in previous designs, Sony has added a second microlens layer that helps focus light into a smaller photodiode area. The new chip also uses thin-film technologies for its Poly-Si transfer electrodes and microlenses. These changes have allowed Sony to reduce the total pixel size of the ICX681SQW by around 15% as compared to the previous ICX677SQW sensor design, for an 8% increase in linear resolution. Despite the decrease in pixel size, sensitivity has fallen by only around 8%, and saturation signal by around 5%. Smear has increased by just 0.5dB.

Courtesy of Sony, the following diagrams show the pixel structure of its previous ICX677SQW image sensor on the left, versus the newer ICX681SQW on the right, along with specifications for both sensors.

Image sensor	ICX677SQW	ICX681SQW
Device Structure
Image Size	Diagonal 7.791 mm (Type 1/2.3)	Diagonal 7.763 mm (Type 1/2.3)
Transfer method	Frame readout interline transfer method	Frame readout interline transfer method
Readout method (Vertical)	6-field readout	8-field readout
Readout method (Horizontal)	2-phase drive, divided into thirds	2-phase drive, divided into fourths
Total number of pixels	Approx. 12.39M (4077H × 3038V)	Approx. 14.48M pixels (4412H × 3282V)
Number of effective pixels	Approx. 12.19M (4032H × 3024V)	Approx. 14.20M pixels (4352H × 3264V)
Number of active pixels	Approx. 12.12M (4024H × 3012V)	Approx. 14.14M pixels (4344H × 3256V)
Number of recommended recording pixels (Aspect ratio: 4:3)	Approx. 12.00M (4000H × 3000V)	Approx. 14.00M pixels (4320H × 3240V)
Unit cell size	1.55μm (H) × 1.55μm (V)	1.430 μm (H) × 1.430 μm (V)
Horizontal drive frequency	38MHz	38 MHz
Package	38-pin QFN (Ceramic)	38-pin QFN (Ceramic)
Image Sensor Characteristics
Sensitivity (G signal)	180 mV (Typ.)	165 mV (Typ.)
	3200K, 706 cd/m2, 1/30 s accumulation, F5.6
Saturation signal (Frame readout mode)	480 mV (Min.)	465 mV (Min.)
	Ta = 60°C, per pixel
Smear (Frame readout mode)	–86.5 dB (Typ.)	–86.0 dB (Typ.)
	None when a mechanical shutter is used, V/10 method, F5.6
Frame rate (Frame readout mode)	2.038 frame/s Number of output lines: 3024 lines	1.616 frame/s Number of output lines: 3264 lines
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