Samsung is long-rumored to be working on a 200-megapixel camera sensor for smartphones. There were expectations the company will use it in the Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, it appears that won’t be the case. The said 200-megapixel camera may not feature in any of the Galaxy S22 models.
According to reliable tipster Ice Universe, Samsung will use its third-gen 108-megapixel sensor (ISOCELL HM3) in the Galaxy S22 Ultra (via). That’s the same camera found in the Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, the company is reportedly working on improving its performance.
If you recall, Samsung was the first to launch a 108-megapixel camera sensor for smartphones back in 2019. The camera debuted in a Xiaomi smartphone, the Mi Note 10. The Korean firm used an improved version of that sensor in the Galaxy S20 Ultra last year.
In January this year, it launched a newer 108-megapixel sensor which is employed by the Galaxy S21 Ultra. It appears Samsung will now use an improved version of this sensor in its next-gen top-of-the-line flagship. The upcoming 200-megapixel camera is for some other brand. Perhaps, it will be Xiaomi again.
This decision from Samsung isn’t a bad thing though. A higher megapixel count doesn’t necessarily mean better pictures. Since the company can expand the size of the sensor by only so much, fitting 200 million pixels in a tiny silicon piece means smaller pixel sizes.
This would eventually result in higher noise in pictures because of lower light sensitivity. Granted, the pixel binning technology helps, but only for still images. Pixel binning doesn’t work with videos, so a 200-megapixel camera may not produce videos as good in quality as the current 108-megapixel sensors.
Galaxy S22 Ultra will keep the 108-megapixel camera for good
The megapixels race has been heating up recently. Samsung went with the flow and jumped to a 108-megapixel sensor for the Galaxy S20 Ultra last year, having used 16-megapixel or lower resolution cameras in its flagships before. However, it is now refraining from going even higher to a 200-megapixel camera for the Galaxy S22 Ultra and sticking to the 108-megapixel one for good.
We won’t even complain if Samsung uses its 50-megapixel ISOCELL GN2 sensor (or an improved version of it) in the entire Galaxy S22 series. The vanilla Galaxy S22 and S22+ are already said to feature a 50-megapixel sensor for the main camera.
The ISOCELL GN2 has big 1.4μm-sized pixels which grow to 2.8 µm with 4-in-1 binning. It is capable of recording 8K videos and can operate in a 100-megapixel mode as well. With some optimizations, Samsung could further improve its performance. It will now be interesting to see how things shape up by the time the Galaxy S22 series becomes production-ready.