While compact cameras with small sensors are becoming rarer, there are still many popular cameras with Type 1 image sensors, like the Sony RX100 Mark VII. Nothing is misleading about 'full frame.' There is possible confusion with medium-format cameras since medium-format sensors come in a couple of sizes (44 x 33mm and 53.4 x 40mm), but we always make a point to note sensor size when reviewing medium-format cameras, like the Fujifilm GFX 100S (44 x 33mm) and Phase One IQ4 150MP (53.4 x 40mm). While we could refer to larger image sensors similarly – full-frame cameras would be Type 2.7, for example – there's no need, as those sensor formats are well-understood and sensible. For even smaller image sensors, we'll refer to those in a similar format, writing out Type 1/X (approximate sensor dimensions). Moving forward, we will refer to typical 1-inch type sensors as Type 1 (12.7 x 9.5mm). We want readers to better understand the sensor size of a product without needing to get into the weeds on the history of CRT broadcast cameras and hypothetical glass tubes. The physical size of an image sensor has a real, sometimes significant, effect on image quality. Alongside DPReview, PetaPixel, Cameralabs, Gerald Undone, The Art of Photography and potentially more publications and YouTube channels, we will adopt a new naming system that better conveys the physical sensor size of what are often referred to as 1-inch type sensors. We want to help reduce the confusion and make it easier for prospective customers to understand what they're buying. For this reason, Sony Semiconductor, one of the world's premiere sensor makers, has already changed its naming system. Is it an outright lie when manufacturers make claims like 'our smartphone is the first to include a 1-inch sensor,' or 'our drone uses a large 1-inch image sensor?' Not exactly, but at the very least, it's misleading and confusing. Why is the typical naming convention problematic? The typical diagonal of a modern 1-inch type sensor is, you guessed it, 16mm (15.9mm, to be precise). The glass tube that surrounded a signal plate had a 1-inch diameter, although the photosensitive area of the tube was only about 0.63' in diameter – or around 16mm. Live broadcasting cameras in the 1950s used cathode-ray tubes (CRT) to project an image line after line. The odd naming convention goes back to the dimensions of a hypothetical glass tube that could surround the 1-inch sensor. If the name of a sensor includes a unit of measurement, why is the measurement not accurate? To overcome this confusion, we will change our naming system style guide to 'Type 1 (sensor dimensions).' This will make it immediately clear what the actual sensor area is when discussing the smaller '1-inch type' image sensors found in many smartphones, drones, and compact cameras. However, as surely some of you know, a 1-inch sensor is considerably smaller than an inch. A 1'-type sensor must be an inch, right? It would make sense.

Medium format vs full frame sensor size