Samsung ISOCELL HP3 200MP Sensor Launched With Tiniest Pixels

Samsung has unveiled its new 200-megapixel camera sensor with the smallest pixels yet, which would let manufacturers keep their premium smartphones slim with improved autofocus.

Samsung has unveiled its new 200-megapixel camera sensor with the smallest pixels yet, which would let manufacturers keep their premium smartphones slim with improved autofocus. The 200MP ISOCELL HP3 image sensor features the industry’s smallest 0.56 μm pixels. The HP3 sensor has 12 per cent smaller pixel size than its predecessor’s 0.64μm pixels, and packs technology like autofocus capability in every pixel, binning for better low light capability and multi gain ISO for maximum dynamic range.

“Samsung has continuously led the image sensor market trend through its technology leadership in high-resolution sensors with the smallest pixels,” JoonSeo Yim, Executive Vice President of Sensor Business Team at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.

“With our latest and upgraded 0.56μm 200MP ISOCELL HP3, Samsung will push on to deliver epic resolutions beyond professional levels for smartphone camera users.”

The ISOCELL HP3 sensor with 12 per cent smaller pixel size than the predecessor’s 0.64μm, packs 200 million pixels in a 1/1.4 inch optical format, which is the diametre of the area that is captured through the camera lens. This means that the ISOCELL HP3 can enable an approximately 20 per cent reduction in camera module surface area, allowing smartphone manufacturers to keep their premium devices slim.

The sensor also allows users to take videos in 8K at 30 fps or 4K at 120fps, with minimal loss in the field of view when taking 8K videos. Combined with the Super QPD solution, users can take movie-like cinematic footage with their mobile devices.

To maximise the dynamic range of the mobile image sensor, the ISOCELL HP3 adopts an improved Smart-ISO Pro feature. The technology merges image information made from the two conversion gains of Low and High ISO mode to create HDR images. The upgraded version of the technology comes with a triple ISO mode -- Low, Mid and High -- that further widens the sensor’s dynamic range.

There's also an improved Smart-ISO Pro that enables the sensor to express images in over 4 trillion colours (14-bit colour depth), 64 times more colours than the predecessor’s 68 billion (12-bit). By supporting staggered HDR along with Smart-ISO Pro, the ISOCELL HP3 can switch between the two solutions depending on the filming environment to produce high-quality HDR images.