Japanese-based Sony is working on a new ‘Dashcam’ line, following a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) under the name ‘Sony Safety Cocoon’.
LetsGoDigital first noticed the patent application, filed with the following descriptive categories:
‘Video recorders for cars; Vehicle Monitoring Equipment; rearview camera for vehicles; digital video cameras and video recorders; navigation equipment for vehicles; speed sensors; motion sensors’.
Whilst Sony has prior experience manufacturing digital cameras and car image sensors, a recently introduced dash cam line has been left on the cards.
The company is clearly capitalising on recent industry reports which indicate that the dashcam market has experienced significant growth in recent years, and is tipped to rise further in the forthcoming future.
As dashcams are usually mounted in/around the mount of a car, naming the brand ‘Cocoon’ could imply a rounded cam design.
In April this year, Sony debuted a new camera sensor specific to the car market – the IMX390CQV, featuring a 1 / 2.7-inch CMOS sensor with 2.45 megapixels – capable of generating crisp images even in dark light, thus suitable for night driving. The new image sensor is also capable of shooting HDR video.
Watch Sony’s recently released car image sensor in action below:
Reports state whilst the new sensor was unveiled in April, it will only be available to the mass consumer market around March 2018.
As such, consensus is the new ‘Sony Safety Cocoon’ dashcam line will likely utilise the new high-quality image sensor.
