Samsung and Xiaomi unveil the world's first 108MP mobile sensor

On August 7 at the Future Image Technology Communication Meeting in Beijing, Xiaomi not only promised release a 64MP smartphone this year, but also unexpectedly announced work on a 100MP device with a Samsung sensor. When such a smartphone will be presented is not clear, but the sensor itself already exists: about this, as expected, said the Korean manufacturer.

Samsung has announced the world's first sensor for smartphones, the resolution of which goes beyond the psychological bar of 100 megapixels. The Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX is a 108-megapixel smartphone sensor developed in close collaboration with Xiaomi. This partnership is a continuation of work on a smartphone with a 64-megapixel ISOCELL GW1 sensor from the same Samsung.

But that is not all. We are talking about the largest sensor for smartphones today in terms of physical dimensions. True, there was an even larger sensor in the revolutionary Nokia 808 PureView, released back in 2012: 1 / 1,2 ″ with a resolution of 41 megapixels. The pixel size in the Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX is still 0,8 microns - like in the company's 64-megapixel or 48-megapixel sensors. As a result, the dimensions of the sensor have increased to an impressive 1 / 1,33 ", which means that it will be able to perceive twice as much light as a 48-megapixel solution.

At the limit, the user can take huge photos with a resolution of 12032 × 9024 pixels (4:3), which, thanks to computational photography, will become even closer in quality to system cameras. However, it is worth remembering that we are talking about a matrix created using Quad Bayer technology (in Samsung's terminology - Tetracell). In other words, Bayer filters do not cover every single sensor, but four pixels at a time. As a result, the full resolution of such a sensor is actually about 27 megapixels (6016 × 4512), but the size of a single pixel, in fact, also reaches 1,6 microns. By the way, Quad Bayer technology allows you to significantly increase the dynamic range.

The high resolution and sensor size not only increase detail in good lighting conditions, but also reduce the amount of noise in low light conditions. Smart ISO technology helps the sensor more accurately match the correct ISO sensitivity to the environment. The matrix uses ISOCELL Plus technology, which provides special partitions between pixels that allow more efficient and accurate capture of photons, increasing light sensitivity and color rendering not only compared to BSI sensors, but also compared to conventional ISOCELLs.

Despite the gigantic resolution, Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX remains a very fast sensor. For example, the manufacturer claims to support video recording in resolutions up to 6K (6016 × 3384 pixels) at 30 frames per second.

"Samsung is constantly driving innovation in pixel and logic technologies in the development of our ISOCELL image sensors to capture the world as close as possible to how our eyes perceive it," said Yongin Park, Executive Vice President of Sensor Business at Samsung Electronics. ). “Through close cooperation with Xiaomi, ISOCELL Bright HMX is the first mobile image sensor with a resolution of over 100 million pixels, delivering unrivaled color reproduction and stunning detail with advanced Tetracell and ISOCELL Plus technologies.”

Now that it is confirmed that Xiaomi will be the first to use this sensor, it remains only to wait for the corresponding smartphone. As expected, the first phone with a 108-megapixel sensor in 2020 will be Xiaomi Mi Mix 4. It is curious how the company will fit a rather large sensor and optics in the case, and how far the camera block will protrude from the case? Mass production of Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX will begin at the end of this month, that is, nothing should prevent the release of the corresponding device on the market in a few months.

“Xiaomi and Samsung have worked closely on the ISOCELL Bright HMX from the earliest concept stage through to production. The result is a revolutionary 108MP image sensor. We are very pleased that resolutions previously only available in a few high-end SLR cameras can now appear in smartphones,” said Lin Bin, co-founder and president of Xiaomi. “As our partnership continues, we are going to offer not only new mobile cameras, but also a platform through which our users can create unique content.”

Source: 3dnews.ru