Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W620 vs. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V1

Comparison

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W620

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V1

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Megapixels

14.50

5.20

Max. image resolution

4320 x 3240

2592 x 1944

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

Sensor resolution

4392 x 3302

2629 x 1977

Diagonal

7.70 mm

8.89 mm

Sensor size comparison

Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »

	vs
1	:	1.33
(ratio)

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W620		Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V1

Surface area:

28.46 mm²

37.90 mm²

Difference: 9.44 mm² (33%)

V1 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than W620 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 9 years between Sony W620 (2012) and Sony V1 (2003). Nine years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

1.4 µm

2.7 µm

Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.

Difference: 1.3 µm (93%)

Pixel pitch of V1 is approx. 93% higher than pixel pitch of W620.

Pixel area

1.96 µm²

7.29 µm²

Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.

Relative pixel sizes:

Pixel area difference: 5.33 µm² (272%)

A pixel on Sony V1 sensor is approx. 272% bigger than a pixel on Sony W620.

Pixel density

50.84 MP/cm²

13.67 MP/cm²

Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.

Difference: 37.17 µm (272%)

Sony W620 has approx. 272% higher pixel density than Sony V1.

To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.

Specs

Sony W620

Sony V1

Crop factor

5.62

4.87

Total megapixels

Effective megapixels

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

45 cm

40 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

10 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

28 - 140 mm

34 - 136 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f3.2 - f6.5

f2.8 - f4

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f18 - f36.5

f13.6 - f19.5

Metering

Centre weighted, Multi-segment, Spot

Centre weighted, Matrix, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

2 sec

30 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1600 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

2.7"

1.5"

Screen resolution

230,400 dots

123,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, SDHC, SDXC, Secure Digital

Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion NP-BN battery

InfoLithium (NP-FC11)

Weight

116 g

298 g

Dimensions

98 x 56 x 20 mm

99 x 65 x 57 mm

Year

2012

2003

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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:

Diagonal = √

w² + h²

where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Sony W620 diagonal

The diagonal of W620 sensor is not 1/2.3 or 0.43" (11 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.7 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.16 mm
h = 4.62 mm

Diagonal = √

6.16² + 4.62²

= 7.70 mm

Sony V1 diagonal

The diagonal of V1 sensor is not 1/1.8 or 0.56" (14.1 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8.89 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.11 mm
h = 5.33 mm

Diagonal = √

7.11² + 5.33²

= 8.89 mm

Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

W620 sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

V1 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:

Pixel pitch =	sensor width in mm	× 1000
	sensor resolution width in pixels

W620 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4392 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.4 µm
	4392

V1 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2629 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.7 µm
	2629

Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:

Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:

Pixel area =	sensor surface area in mm²
	effective megapixels

W620 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.4 µm

Pixel area = 1.4² = 1.96 µm²

V1 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.7 µm

Pixel area = 2.7² = 7.29 µm²

Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:

Pixel density = (	sensor resolution width in pixels	)² / 1000000
	sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:

Pixel density =	effective megapixels × 1000000	/ 10000
	sensor surface area in mm²

W620 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4392 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4392 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 50.84 MP/cm²

V1 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2629 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2629 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 13.67 MP/cm²

Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:

(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000 →

X = √	effective megapixels × 1000000
	r

3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

W620 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 14.50

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	14.50 × 1000000	= 3302
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3302 × 1.33 = 4392
Resolution vertical: X = 3302

Sensor resolution = 4392 x 3302

V1 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 5.20

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	5.20 × 1000000	= 1977
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1977 × 1.33 = 2629
Resolution vertical: X = 1977

Sensor resolution = 2629 x 1977

Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.

Crop factor =	43.27 mm
	sensor diagonal in mm

W620 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

V1 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

W620 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.2 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.2 - f6.5) × 5.62 = f18 - f36.5

V1 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f4

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f19.5

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