Sony has developed a 25.7-megapixel CCD sensor with a size that matches the dimensions of a 35mm film frame.

Sony's CMOS sensor boasts 24.8m effective pixels

Related stories

• Smile! Nikon's smile-spotting camera is watching you
• Canon shows off Spring Collection
• Samsung unveils second-gen GX digital SLR
• Panasonic intros entry-level digicam
• Digital SLRs

The 41 x 32mm chip has a total pixel count of 25.7m, but Sony said that only 24.81m of those pixels are used to collect picture data to ensure the correct image aspect ratio. It can cope with up to 6.3 frames per second (fps) shooting, and Sony claimed its chip has a unique circuit design that enables it to yield an “extremely high” analogue to digital conversion speed.

Sony will begin mass producing the chip this year, but it’s yet to say which of its DSLR cameras will incorporate the sensor.

Last week, Samsung announced that its upcoming GX-20 digital SLR will feature the first CMOS senor to be manufactured by the South Korean company.