Last year, Samsung demonstrated the power of its monstrous 200-megapixel camera sensor by printing a billboard-sized cat photo taken on a phone. Now the company has started mass producing its successor, the Isocell HP2.
Interestingly, Samsung has elected not to include its last 200-MP camera sensor module in any of its own smartphones launched since the Isocell HP1 was announced back in 2021 – the Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example, topped out at 108 megapixels.
But change appears to be in the air, with the upcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra widely thought to include a 200-MP main camera that's built around the new Isocell HP2 sensor. We won't have to wait too long for confirmation, as the 2023 flagship handset is due to be revealed early next month.
Back to what we do know. The HP2 crams 200 million 0.6-micrometer (µm) pixels onto a 1/1.3-inch-type format. But it's the Tetra pixel-binning technology here that's arguably even more impressive than that headline-grabbing raw megapixel count.
Combining teeny pixels to make larger ones allows for more light and more detail to be captured, which is particularly useful for low-light photography. Binning sees 16 teeny pixels join forces to form one relatively large 2.4-µm pixel for 12.5-MP images, or four get together to make one 1.2-µm pixel to create a 50-MP image or for recording 8K video at 30 frames per second – with Samsung claiming benefits such as reduced cropping, a wider field of view and sharp cinematic videos.
A Digital Slope Gain feature bumps HDR performance in 50-MP mode by digitizing the analog signal at each pixel using two different conversion scales. Smart-ISO Pro, meanwhile, can merge different light sensitivity data from a single exposure to build a 12.5-MP photo or a 4K/60fps video in HDR.
The sensor promises improved autofocus speed and accuracy in low-light conditions thanks to something the company has dubbed Super QPD, and the HP2 also boasts new Dual Vertical Transfer Gate tech designed to reduce overexposure and improve color reproduction in brightly lit environments.
Samsung reports that the Isocell HP2 sensor is already in mass production, and will doubtless find its way into future flagship smartphones – perhaps starting with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Source: Samsung