After taking the wraps off of its 108MP ISOCELL HM3 image sensor earlier this year, Samsung has unveiled two new image sensors today. Amongst these, the first one is the ISOCELL HP1 sensor, which is the world’s first 200MP mobile image sensor. The other one is the 50MP ISOCELL GN5 image sensor.
The company shared the details for its latest image sensors via an official blog post. The industry-first 200MP sensor features tiny 0.64 micron-sized pixels and offers support for 8K videos on mobile and handheld devices. The 50MP GN5 sensor, on the other hand, is a lower-end sensor with improved auto-focus features.
Samsung 200MP ISOCELL HP1 Image Sensor
Now, getting into the technical details of the 200MP sensor, it is based on the company’s most advanced camera technologies and features a brand new pixel-binning technology dubbed the ChameleonCell technology. This pixel-binning technology uses a two-by-two, four-by-four, or full pixel layout for images depending on the environmental lighting.
As a result, in low-light environments, the ISOCELL HP1 sensor turns into a 12.5MP image sensor with a large 2.56μm pixels. It essentially merges 16 neighboring pixels to capture more light and increase sensitivity. It allows users to capture bright and sharp images indoors and in dimly lit situations. The sensor, however, works at full capacity in bright outdoor environments and delivers ultra-high-definition images on mobile devices.
As for the video capability, the 200MP ISOCELL HP1 supports 8K video recording at 30FPS. The sensor enables minimal loss in the field of view. Plus, it merges four neighboring pixels to decrease the resolution of videos to 50MP to capture 8K videos without cropping or scaling down the full image resolution.
Samsung 50MP ISOCELL GN5 Image Sensor
Coming to the ISOCELL GN5 image sensor, the 50MP sensor is the industry’s first image sensor to come with built-in support for Dual Pixel Pro technology. This is essentially an advanced autofocusing tech that enables the sensor to automatically focus in all directions.
The Dual Pixel Pro technology leverages two of the industry’s smallest photodiodes in between each 1μm pixel. These photodiodes are either placed horizontally or vertically between the pixels to recognize pattern changes in all directions. So, with one million such phase-detecting photodiodes, the 50MP ISOCELL GN5 sensor is able to auto-focus instantly in both bright and low-light environments.
Furthermore, the GN5 image sensor also uses the company’s proprietary pixel technology that applies Front Deep Trench Isolation (FDTI). This makes it the first Dual Pixel product in the industry to apply FDTI technology. It essentially enables the tiny photodiodes between the pixels to absorb and hold more light information, despite their micro-sized form factor.
Availability
Now, coming to the availability of the new image sensors, Samsung is already shipping the ISOCELL HP1 and GN5 image sensors to OEMs. So, we can expect phone makers to launch phones with these sensors by late 2021 or early 2022.
