TeaThe megapixel war between smartphones is entering a new phase in 2023. And this will be all about hit 200 megapixels Lens, jury is out on whether It’s going to be good or bad for the user, but one thing’s for sure – it’s a trend whose time has come, especially when Perhaps the most iconic Android phone, the iPhone’s arch nemesis, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, has been rumored Happen Getting one of these sensors.
This trend continued even as smartphones began to displace digital cameras for the average consumer. it started first With ex iphone period, When Nokia and Sony Ericsson often battled for top honours. Then the iPhone came along in 2007. until 2009, Android, with its armada of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), was redefining what a smartphone should be. But neither the iPhone nor Android had good cameras in those early days.
Even though people wanted phones with Android, iOS, or BlackBerry OS, Nokia still had camera feature As its trump card. But that began to change when Apple launched the iPhone 4 in 2010 with Steve Jobs’ 5-megapixel camera. described As “the closest kin of an old Leica camera”.
Even in the early 2010s, Nokia‘s The N8 and 808 PureView continue to have the best cameras. Pureview 808 debuted with a 41-megapixel camera, Which was unheard of even in a DSLR in 2012. Effectively, that phone only shot images at 5 megapixels using a trick called “pixel binning”.
As we enter 2023, 50-megapixel camera systems have become commonplace on smartphones. since 2020, 108 megapixel cameras have also become quite common. the year was also 2022 period That’s when Apple joined the party with a 48-megapixel camera on the iPhone 14 Pro model. but that year, we also saw a few models that launched with 200-megapixel cameras, a resolution that isn’t excessive but is ridiculous by any metric. My last column for ThePrint is about redmi Note 12 Pro+ which also has a 200 megapixel camera.
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Samsung’s 200 Megapixel Gamble
Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S23 Ultra on February 1 galaxy unpacked Competition. When a high-profile product integrates such technology, it is a sign of validation. Industry usually follows suit.
Samsung went from the 12-megapixel cameras on its flagship Galaxy S line in 2019 to a 108-megapixel sensor in 2020. Samsung Two more years to perfect its 108-megapixel camera system. According to DXOMarkGalaxy S22 Ultra with a score of 135 13th-best Camera system on the smartphone. Samsung has some catching up to do.
from 2021, Its imaging division has come with a 200-megapixel sensor. HP1 And HP3 Mobile camera sensors have already been used by Xiaomi and Motorola. As is Samsung’s camera business second largest A supplier of camera sensors to the smartphone industry, its technology is bound to appear in a number of gadgets.
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Samsung ISOCELL HP Series
HP1 was announced in 2021, Although it first appeared on the phone motorola Edge 30 Ultra and Xiaomi 12T Pro in 2022. In June, Samsung started HP3, which now found my wayTo New Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+, I looked at camera performance as highlighted in my column about to happen Excellent for a phone in the sub-Rs 30,000 range. I also noted that google pixel 6a Comes with a humble 12-megapixel snapper he provides Superior still photography chops.
With these high-resolution sensors, Samsung is trying to bend the laws of physics by using “pixel binning”. It is a technique that combines adjacent subpixels within a camera sensor to form a superpixel. The idea here isn’t to shoot 200-megapixel photos in most situations.
Smartphone cameras are small. The higher the resolution, the smaller the individual subpixels become in comparison to the size of the sensor and therefore less sensitive to light. On a phone, sensor size is more important than overall megapixels. Even the size of the aperture is more important than the number of megapixels.
On the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, the 1/1.4-inch sensor divided by 200 megapixels offers 0.56um sub-pixels which may not be effective in low light. that’s why, 200 megapixels is overkill for any scenario, In addition to exaggerated cropping for lossless photos at low resolutions.
Typically, the HP3 shoots 50-megapixel photos using “pixel binning” with 1.12um subpixels. Users can also shoot at 12.5 megapixels, Doubled down again with sub-pixel size. The iPhone had a 12 megapixel camera Till then 2021, and the Galaxy S10 was similar Till then 2019. 12.5-megapixel photos taken with 2.24um subpixels are very light-sensitive. This is the reason why Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has great low-light performance.
it should be noted he The HP3 probably isn’t a new sensor for flagship phones. it has the highest pitch Above The HP1 is that it packs 200-megapixel resolution into a sensor that’s 20 percent smaller. It means that’s HP3 Suitable for slim phones which are affordable and this can be seen in many other sub Rs 30,000 phones.
The HP1 has 200 megapixels with a 1/1.22-inch sensor, which is bigger than the iPhone 14 Pro (1/1.28-inch), But the HP3 also has a larger 0.64um subpixel. big sensor, When combined with more capable silicon, Will capture better images. But it may have a successor.
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ISOCELL HP2 for Galaxy S23 Ultra
Rumors suggest Samsung has ISOCELL HP2 sensor he Galaxy S23 can debut in Ultra. This sensor may be larger than the HP3’s 1/1.4-inch sensor, Even if it is not as big as HP1. This may happen Happen as big as HM3 1/1.33-inch sensor on the current Galaxy S22 Ultra.
There’s also talk that it could implement “pixel binning” in such a way that it takes 35-megapixel resolution photos, which is the number needed for 8K video. Sure, Samsung’s phones have had 8K video for the past few years, but the footage isn’t very useful.
But the S23 Ultra could make that a reality. Will it mean much to the end user? not much. 4K is good enough. This sensor could help with better 4K video, an area in which Android phones have lagged behind the iPhone for a decade.
Samsung is already teasing some new capabilities of the S23 camera system. This is pointing to an astrophotography mode that would require a camera that is exceptional in the dark so that it can highlight the galactic core in the night horizon.
So this new sensor may have a better camera system than the S22 Ultra.
But don’t hold your breath when this type of camera shows up on the iPhone. Likes to use bespoke sensors made by Apple Sony Only for iPhone. Sony doesn’t make 200 megapixel mobile sensor.
Sahil Mohan Gupta is a technology journalist based in Delhi. He tweets @DigitallyBones. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Tarannum Khan)