what you need to know
- Samsung has announced an updated 200-megapixel camera sensor.
- The ISOCELL HP3 features smaller pixels than the previous version for a smaller profile.
- The sensor can combine four or 16 pixels to output 50MP or 12.5MP images.
- The new sensor can now be sampled by OEMs and will go into mass production this year.
Last year Samsung announced an impressive-sounding 200-megapixel smartphone camera sensor that we couldn’t wait to see. Unfortunately, it hasn’t arrived on smartphones yet, but the company has announced its successor, ISOCELL HP3 Sensor.
One of the key changes in this new 200-megapixel camera sensor is the smaller pixel size. That ISOCELL HP3 (opens in new tab) features 0.56μm pixels, a bit smaller than the 0.64μm pixels found on it predecessor. Samsung says this smaller pixel size allows the sensor to fit in a 20% smaller space, which could appeal to OEMs interested in adopting it for their phones.
While smaller pixels typically mean less light capture, ISOCELL HP3 uses pixel binning to mitigate this disadvantage. The sensor can merge four pixels to output 50MP images with a 1.12μm pixel size, or a whopping 16 pixels to output a 12.5MP image with huge 2.24μm pixels, ideal for shooting in poor light conditions and at night.
The ISOCELL HP3 is capable of recording 8K video at 30 FPS or 4K video at 120 FPS with “minimal loss in field of view when recording 8K video”. The sensor also supports Super QPD for improved autofocus and Smart-ISO Pro for better HDR capture.
It is unclear when we will see the first ISOCELL HP3 equipped smartphone on the market as its predecessor was announced in September and has not appeared in a smartphone yet. That Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra It’s been rumored to be sporting the new sensor when it launches next year, but leaker Ice Universe suggests otherwise, meaning the phone may be sticking with the 108-megapixel sensor featured on some of the devices can be found The best Android phones.
HP3 is not taken over by the Samsung S23 Ultra. https://t.co/cTqdMMQldAJune 23, 2022
Samsung says it will begin mass production of the sensor this year and that samples are already available.
Meanwhile, Motorola teased a July launch for a smartphone believed to feature the ISOCELL HP1, which could pave the way for a new era in smartphone imaging.
