More MPs mean more overtuning! Now your images will be sharpened as hell as ever.
Samsung has a knack for releasing high MP camera sensors for mobile phones without ever mentioning software tuning. Their press releases usually involve the camera sensor using new Pixel-binning techniques to improve low-light performance as well as sharper images. It’s the numbers game where Samsung prevails, and quality is where their Japanese rival prevails.
Here is the ISOCELL HP2, a 200MP sensor intended for premium high-end midrangers and flagships.
“The Samsung ISOCELL HP2 harnesses Samsung’s high-resolution image sensor technologies and know-how at the cutting edge for epic details,” said JoonSeo Yim, Executive Vice President of Sensor Business Team at Samsung Electronics. “Our leadership comes from innovative pixel technologies that allow our sensors to go beyond the number and size of pixels. We will continue to open new horizons and solidify our presence in the expanding ultra-high-resolution sensor market.”
It levies 0.6 micrometres of pixels at a 1/1.3″ optical format. Samsung noted that this sensor size is often used at 108MP sensors. This miniature size allows manufacturers to create high-resolution images while also conserving space and minimizing camera bumps.
“Tetra2pixel” is the newest gimmick of the Tetrapixel technology Samsung has developed. This version uses computational photography to determine the best image based on a set of images the device has captured. This allows the sensor to capture 1.2µm 50MP images or 2.4µm 12.5MP images in low-light. This is achieved by using a quad-pixel binning technique to 16 neighboring pixels.
When capturing 8K videos, the sensor uses 33MP worth of its 200MP and then switches to the aforementioned 50MP image to minimize cropping and capture more of the scene. The company claims that this method allows for a wider field of view while also retaining a crispy and sharp video result.
The Dual Vertical Transfer Gate (D-VGT) is a proprietory technology developed by Samsung to minimize washed out colours in overexposed images. Also, the Super QPD that the sensor is equipped with allows for extremely fast autofocusing by taking advantage of all 200 million pixels that the sensor has. These pixels are grouped by four adjacent pixels to recognize both vertical and horizontal pattern changes and utilizes different pattern data through mapped reference points.
DSG is introduced for the first time in the standard 50MP mode for improved HDR performance. Smart-ISO Pro also allows the sensor to take 4K@60fps videos in a 12.5MP resolution in HDR.
The sensor is now in mass production and was announced right on time for the Galaxy S23 release this coming February. The sensor may debut first on the flagship Galaxy S23 series.
Source: Samsung Newsroom