Ahead of next week’s Unpacked, Samsung recently unveiled a 200MP telephoto image sensor for smartphones with enhanced light absorption capabilities.
The Isocell HP9 has 200 million 0.56-micrometer pixels in a 1/1.4-inch optical format. Samsung says it has used a new material to make the sensor’s high-refractive microlenses, which it says improves light-gathering capabilities by accurately transmitting more light to the RGB color filters.
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The company said the sensor was developed to cater to the trend of premium smartphones using large wide-angle optical formats on their main cameras, which means there is ample space for a large telephoto sensor.
The South Korean tech giant says the product offers 12 percent higher light sensitivity and 10 percent better autofocus performance than its predecessor.
The sensor also excels in low-light environments thanks to the company’s technology that groups 16 pixels into 12MP. According to the company, the 2.24-micrometer sensor is able to better absorb light, resulting in sharper portraits and a “dramatic” out-of-focus bokeh effect.
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This sensor offers a 12x optical zoom when combined with a 4x in-sensor zoom module and a 3x telephoto zoom module, resulting in sharper, less noisy images when cropped.
Samsung has unveiled two new 50MP image sensors, the Isocell GNJ and Isocell JN5, along with a 200MP telephoto sensor.
According to the company, the Isocell GNJ is a dual-pixel sensor with 50 million 1-micrometer-sized pixels in a 1/1.57-inch optical format. It’s called dual-pixel because each pixel contains two photodiodes for faster, more accurate autofocus. It also uses Samsung’s new microlenses for better light absorption. The pixels are also better separated from each other, minimizing crosstalk for more accurate image capture.
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Samsung says the Isocell JN5 has 50 million 0.64-micrometer pixels in a 1/2.76-inch optical format. The sensor features dual vertical transfer gate technology that increases charge transfer within the pixels, reducing noise and sharpening images in low-light conditions. It has mandatory phase detection technology and an improved high dynamic range. It is an all-rounder sensor that can be used in the main and sub-cameras for wide-angle, ultra-wide, and telephoto.
While these sensors may eventually make their way to mainstream smartphones, it’s likely still a year or two away, meaning the upcoming Galaxy foldable won’t get the camera upgrades Samsung is touting.
