We’re already seeing smartphone cameras that break the 100-megapixel barrier, but now Samsung is aiming to double that with the launch of the ISOCELL HP1 – a 200-MP image sensor destined for the flagship handsets of tomorrow.
The HP1 image sensors makes use of 0.64-µm-sized pixels, and in brightly lit environments can take full advantage of that headline-grabbing megapixel count. In more challenging lighting conditions, the company’s ChameleonCell pixel-binning technology merges 16 of those pixels into a four-by-four arrangement to transform the sensor into a 12.5-MP flavor rocking large 2.56-µm pixels for improved light absorption.
The technology can also merge neighboring pixels in a two-by-two configuration to produce 50-MP images, or to enable 8K (7,680 x 4,320) video at 30 frames per second that don’t require cropping or scaling.
Along with the HP1, Samsung also announced the industry’s first 1.0-µm image sensor to come with integrated Dual Pixel Pro autofocus technology. The ISOCELL HP5 is designed to improve autofocus performance by packing each pixel with two photodiodes that register pattern changes in all directions for AF that “becomes instantaneous.”
Samples of both sensors are available to manufacturers now, though there’s no indication when the first smartphone rocking either technology will appear. The online rumor mill is currently favoring a Xiaomi flagship for the debut of the ISOCELL HP1 in 2022.
Samsung aims for ultra-high-def smartphone photography with 200-MP sensor [New Atlas]