Samsung Electronics has announced two new camera sensors for use in mobile devices. The ISOCELL HP1 is the first 200MP sensor and can record video up to 8K. The ISOCELL GN5 features a more modest 50MP but with large 1.0 micron pixels.
The arrival of a 200MP ISOCELL camera sensor was correctly predicted by @IceUniverse early 2021. 9 months later and it's finally here. The ISOCELL HP1 is small enough for use in most mobile phones and, according to Samsung, should really shine in high detail and low light situations. For the latter, the all new ChameleonCell technology should help a little bit.
This is a form of Pixel Binning where 2x2 or 4x4 pixels can be used as a group, depending on the situation. In a 4x4 arrangement, the sensor shoots photos with 12.5MP resolution and "pixels" the size of 2.56 micron. The larger the pixel, the more light it absorbs and the better exposed the photo will be. Interestingly, this form of Pixel Binning also works when shooting video, even in high 8K resolution.
ISOCELL GN5
As interesting as a 200MP camera phone sounds, most of us are not going to enjoy it in our future phones. We are more likely to end up with the also announced ISOCELL GN5. This sensor has a resolution of 50MP and is the first with 1.0 micron sensor with Dual Pixel Pro. This new form of autofocus can calculate distances in two directions.
To make this work, Samsung has placed two phase-detecting photodiodes in each 1.0 micron pixel that can look both horizontally and vertically. By being able to focus faster, you will shoot sharper pictures. Both the ISOCELL HP1 and ISOCELL GN5 are immediately available for manufacturers who wish to use them. So it is only a matter of time before we will find both in phones. Earlier, it was mentioned that Xiaomi is already working on a 200MP phone.