New Rumor: Quad Pixel AF or Global Shutter coming to the R1

A new rumor from CanonRumors states that new sensor technology is coming to the R1.  The source suggests that it will be Canon's first quad pixel AF sensor. 

We have discovered quite a few quad pixel AF patents over the years, and it is surprising that to date, we haven't seen any yet.  One element could be just the raw processing power required for quad pixel.  Take for instance a 20MP sensor, a dual pixel AF sensor has to read 2 times the number of pixels to perform AF or the equivalent of 40MP.  Quad pixel AF doubles that, making the AF processing read 80MP of data for each auto focus calcuation.  Depending on the sampling rate, quad pixel AF can require some hefty processing to accomplish auto focus fast enough, especially for a 1 series camera body.

We've speculated that the R1 may also have a global shutter sensor as well as quad pixel AF sensors.  This, Canon has already done in a production environment, but only super 35 sized.

The problem with both, and what will be most curious, is if Canon does this while remaining to produce only FSI (front side illumination) sensors.  Both global shutter and quad pixel AF sensors would be more efficient with BSI (back side illuminated) sensors.  As you can see from the below image, the difference is where the wiring is.  A quad pixel sensor, and also a global shutter sensor requires more wiring. 

It's also unlikely that we'd see BOTH of these in one sensor - at least right now, unless Canon indeed does a significant generational leap of moving to BSI.

Richard CanonNewsRichard CanonNews

Richard has been using Canon cameras since the 1990s, with his first being the now legendary EOS-3. Since then, Richard has continued to use Canon cameras and now focuses mostly on infrared photography. Richard is the founder and editor of CanonNews since 2017, and has worked as a writer on CanonRumors and other websites in the past.

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