With its new 200-megapixel image sensor, Samsung will try giving smartphone photographers the best of both worlds: a camera that takes extremely detailed photos and that also works well with challenging lighting conditions that stymie many phones.
The sensor, called the Isocell HP2, is in mass production, but Samsung hasn’t confirmed which phone it’ll arrive in. The sensor is expected, though, to power the main camera on the company’s flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra phone, which likely will debut at a Feb. 1 Samsung event. A “smarter” camera got top billing in a Samsung tease on Tuesday about the event, CNET senior editor Lisa Eadicicco reported.
There aren’t any HP2 samples to test yet, but Samsung’s engineering improvements have a track record of improving image quality to address what’s arguably the most competitive aspect of smartphones today.
More than a decade ago, Apple iPhones helped convince many people that their phone was the only camera they needed most of the time, but Google’s image processing smarts helped its Pixel phones surpass Apple in some ways. Samsung, which manufactures its own image sensors, is now also competitive, in part by packing multiple cameras onto its phones.
Image sensor design tradeoffs
Image sensor designers face a tradeoff. Increasing sensor resolution means each pixel on the sensor is smaller, and for a given technology, smaller pixels aren’t able to gather light as well. That means shots taken in low light are marred by noise speckles. They lose detail in shadowed parts of a scene. And they suffer blown-out highlights in bright areas like skies.
The HP2, though, brings new methods to counteract those problems and make the most of each photon of light, Samsung revealed exclusively to CNET. The HP2 is a bit smaller than its HP1 predecessor but each pixel is more efficient at gathering light, an engineering direction that enables higher resolution photos and a smaller camera bump.
The South Korean electronics giant’s sensor can gather light more effectively in the first place, boost high dynamic range (HDR) photos to cope better with scenes with dark and bright elements, the company said. And when shooting at the full 200-megapixel resolution, Samsung uses AI technology to help render the finest details.
It’s not yet clear how well the sensor will perform in real-world testing. But it’s no surprise Samsung is focusing on the technology. Camera improvements are a prime reason to upgrade phones, with better photos and videos more noticeable than marginally better processors, battery life and network technology.
“The full 200MP resolution especially shines when shooting at concerts or outdoors where there’s lots of detail to be captured,” said JoonSeo Yim, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ sensor business. “It may not be the predominant setting for most consumers, but we definitely see the need for highly detailed images.”
Apple, Samsung’s top smartphone rival, is likewise investing heavily in its cameras. Comparatively large lens elements protrude from the back of iPhone 14 Pro models to show off camera performance, and Apple has upgraded its sensors for better high-resolution and low-light shooting.
Better pixel binning options
One of the headline techniques for improving smartphone photos is called pixel binning. With it, groups of physical pixels can be combined into larger virtual pixels that gather more light when it’s dim, trading off resolution for lower noise …….