Samsung has made great strides towards larger camera sensors with ultra-high resolutions over the past couple of years. The Korean company was the first to introduce a 108-megapixel camera sensor for smartphones back in 2019. It is now reportedly gearing up to further increase the smartphone camera resolution this year.
According to noted tipster Ice Universe, Samsung plans to introduce plenty of new “innovative” ISOCELL camera sensors in 2021. Among the plans is a 200-megapixel sensor as well. The report is very light in details but the tipster claims a 200-megapixel camera sensor for smartphones is “coming soon.”
There were reports that Samsung’s clients had asked the company to develop a 200-megapixel sensor last year itself. However, technical difficulties with production yield mean the Korean company was not able to deliver this on time. It appears Samsung has now overcome those hurdles and is all set to introduce a 200MP camera for smartphones this year.
Samsung is developing a 200MP camera sensor for smartphones
Samsung is one of the biggest names in the smartphone camera sensor industry. The company is investing heavily in this area and is aiming to develop a 600-megapixel camera sensor that can deliver more detail than the human eye can see.
Of course, Samsung isn’t planning such a camera sensor for the immediate future. It is part of the company’s long-term plans with smartphone camera sensors. After introducing a 108-megapixel camera in 2018, the Korean behemoth was said to launch a 150-megapixel sensor last year but wasn’t to be. A 200-megapixel camera this year could be on cards now.
That said, Samsung surely still has plenty to do. Since reducing the pixel size would adversely affect the image quality, it will have to increase the size of the sensor for higher resolution cameras. However, the company can increase the size of the sensor by only so much as it needs to fit inside a compact mobile device.
To overcome this limitation, Samsung is developing advanced pixel binning technologies. The 108-megapixel ISOCELL Bright HM1 sensor uses 3×3 pixel binning and has a footprint of around 1/1.33 inches. It combines nine neighboring pixels to create a large pixel to absorb more light and produce high-resolution images even in low-light conditions.
There’s not much information available about the upcoming 200-megapixel camera as of now. However, Samsung is also developing a 250-megapixel sensor which reportedly measures one inch diagonally. So the new camera sensor should be just under one inch. We will keep you posted as and when more details emerge.