diff --git a/include/libcamera/controls.h b/include/libcamera/controls.h
index ebc168fc28b7..dd474a807d68 100644
--- a/include/libcamera/controls.h
+++ b/include/libcamera/controls.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <assert.h>
+#include <limits>
 #include <optional>
 #include <set>
 #include <stdint.h>
@@ -213,6 +214,8 @@ private:
 class ControlId
 {
 public:
+	static constexpr size_t dynamic_size = std::numeric_limits<std::size_t>::max();
+
 	ControlId(unsigned int id, const std::string &name, ControlType type)
 		: id_(id), name_(name), type_(type)
 	{
@@ -250,11 +253,12 @@ static inline bool operator!=(const ControlId &lhs, unsigned int rhs)
 	return !(lhs == rhs);
 }
 
-template<typename T>
+template<typename T, size_t Size = 0>
 class Control : public ControlId
 {
 public:
 	using type = T;
+	static constexpr size_t size = Size;
 
 	Control(unsigned int id, const char *name)
 		: ControlId(id, name, details::control_type<std::remove_cv_t<T>>::value)
@@ -372,8 +376,8 @@ public:
 
 	bool contains(unsigned int id) const;
 
-	template<typename T>
-	std::optional<T> get(const Control<T> &ctrl) const
+	template<typename T, size_t Size>
+	std::optional<T> get(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl) const
 	{
 		const auto entry = controls_.find(ctrl.id());
 		if (entry == controls_.end())
@@ -383,8 +387,8 @@ public:
 		return val.get<T>();
 	}
 
-	template<typename T, typename V>
-	void set(const Control<T> &ctrl, const V &value)
+	template<typename T, typename V, size_t Size>
+	void set(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl, const V &value)
 	{
 		ControlValue *val = find(ctrl.id());
 		if (!val)
@@ -393,14 +397,14 @@ public:
 		val->set<T>(value);
 	}
 
-	template<typename T, typename V>
-	void set(const Control<T> &ctrl, const std::initializer_list<V> &value)
+	template<typename T, typename V, size_t Size>
+	void set(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl, const std::initializer_list<V> &value)
 	{
 		ControlValue *val = find(ctrl.id());
 		if (!val)
 			return;
 
-		val->set<T>(Span<const typename std::remove_cv_t<V>>{ value.begin(), value.size() });
+		val->set<T>(Span<const typename std::remove_cv_t<V>, Size>{ value.begin(), value.size() });
 	}
 
 	const ControlValue &get(unsigned int id) const;
diff --git a/src/libcamera/controls.cpp b/src/libcamera/controls.cpp
index bc3db4f69388..24c836382f10 100644
--- a/src/libcamera/controls.cpp
+++ b/src/libcamera/controls.cpp
@@ -384,6 +384,11 @@ void ControlValue::reserve(ControlType type, bool isArray, std::size_t numElemen
  * Control class for more information.
  */
 
+/**
+ * \var ControlId::dynamic_size
+ * \brief Size value for dynamic array controls
+ */
+
 /**
  * \fn ControlId::ControlId(unsigned int id, const std::string &name, ControlType type)
  * \brief Construct a ControlId instance
@@ -431,12 +436,17 @@ void ControlValue::reserve(ControlType type, bool isArray, std::size_t numElemen
 /**
  * \class Control
  * \brief Describe a control and its intrinsic properties
+ * \tparam T The control data type
+ * \tparam Size The number of elements (for array controls only)
  *
- * The Control class models a control exposed by an object. Its template type
- * name T refers to the control data type, and allows functions that operate on
- * control values to be defined as template functions using the same type T for
- * the control value. See for instance how the ControlList::get() function
- * returns a value corresponding to the type of the requested control.
+ * The Control class models a control exposed by an object. Its template
+ * paramter \a T refers to the control data type, and allows functions that
+ * operate on control values to be defined as template functions using the same
+ * type T for the control value. See for instance how the ControlList::get()
+ * function returns a value corresponding to the type of the requested control.
+ *
+ * Similarly, for array controls the template parameter \a Size indicates the
+ * number of elements in the array.
  *
  * While this class is the main means to refer to a control, the control
  * identifying information is stored in the non-template base ControlId class.
@@ -469,6 +479,15 @@ void ControlValue::reserve(ControlType type, bool isArray, std::size_t numElemen
  * \brief The Control template type T
  */
 
+/**
+ * \var Control::size
+ * \brief The number of elements for array controls
+ *
+ * The \a size reports the number of elements stored by an array Control. It is
+ * equal to 0 for non-array controls, and to ControlId::dynamic_size for
+ * variable-size controls.
+ */
+
 /**
  * \class ControlInfo
  * \brief Describe the limits of valid values for a Control
@@ -943,7 +962,7 @@ bool ControlList::contains(unsigned int id) const
 }
 
 /**
- * \fn ControlList::get(const Control<T> &ctrl) const
+ * \fn ControlList::get(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl) const
  * \brief Get the value of control \a ctrl
  * \param[in] ctrl The control
  *
@@ -956,7 +975,7 @@ bool ControlList::contains(unsigned int id) const
  */
 
 /**
- * \fn ControlList::set(const Control<T> &ctrl, const V &value)
+ * \fn ControlList::set(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl, const V &value)
  * \brief Set the control \a ctrl value to \a value
  * \param[in] ctrl The control
  * \param[in] value The control value
@@ -970,8 +989,8 @@ bool ControlList::contains(unsigned int id) const
  */
 
 /**
- * \fn ControlList::set(const Control<T> &ctrl, const std::initializer_list<V> &value)
- * \copydoc ControlList::set(const Control<T> &ctrl, const V &value)
+ * \fn ControlList::set(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl, const std::initializer_list<V> &value)
+ * \copydoc ControlList::set(const Control<T, Size> &ctrl, const V &value)
  */
 
 /**
diff --git a/utils/gen-controls.py b/utils/gen-controls.py
index bcfbeb7f9f17..a3b9c58beec6 100755
--- a/utils/gen-controls.py
+++ b/utils/gen-controls.py
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@ class Control(object):
         ns = 'draft::' if self.is_draft else ''
         return ns + self.__name
 
+    @property
+    def size(self):
+        return self.__size
+
     @property
     def type(self):
         typ = self.__data.get('type')
@@ -137,7 +141,7 @@ ${description}''')
  * \\var ${name}
 ${description}
  */''')
-    def_template = string.Template('extern const Control<${type}> ${name}(${id_name}, "${name}");')
+    def_template = string.Template('extern const Control<${type}${size}> ${name}(${id_name}, "${name}");')
     enum_values_doc = string.Template('''/**
  * \\var ${name}Values
  * \\brief List of all $name supported values
@@ -154,9 +158,17 @@ ${description}
     for ctrl in controls:
         id_name = snake_case(ctrl.name).upper()
 
+        if ctrl.size is None:
+            size = ''
+        elif ctrl.size == 0:
+            size = ', ControlId::dynamic_size'
+        else:
+            size = f', {ctrl.size}'
+
         info = {
             'name': ctrl.name,
             'type': ctrl.type,
+            'size': size,
             'description': format_description(ctrl.description),
             'id_name': id_name,
         }
@@ -216,7 +228,7 @@ def generate_h(controls):
     enum_template_start = string.Template('''enum ${name}Enum {''')
     enum_value_template = string.Template('''\t${name} = ${value},''')
     enum_values_template = string.Template('''extern const std::array<const ControlValue, ${size}> ${name}Values;''')
-    template = string.Template('''extern const Control<${type}> ${name};''')
+    template = string.Template('''extern const Control<${type}${size}> ${name};''')
 
     ctrls = []
     draft_ctrls = []
@@ -228,9 +240,17 @@ def generate_h(controls):
 
         ids.append('\t' + id_name + ' = ' + str(id_value) + ',')
 
+        if ctrl.size is None:
+            size = ''
+        elif ctrl.size == 0:
+            size = ', ControlId::dynamic_size'
+        else:
+            size = f', {ctrl.size}'
+
         info = {
             'name': ctrl.name,
             'type': ctrl.type,
+            'size': size,
         }
 
         target_ctrls = ctrls