Samsung has announced a 200-MP image sensor for smartphone cameras, the highest resolution cell phone camera sensor ever made. With 0.64 µm pixels, the ISOCELL HP1 can store 16 pixels at a time, which is equivalent to a 12.5-megapixel sensor with 2.56 µm pixels.
Samsung calls the HP1’s pixel mixing technology “ChameleonCell.” The 12.5 MP 4 x 4 setting is suitable for low-light conditions, but it can also capture 200 MP photos or 50 MP photos with 2 x 2 merge technology.
With the 2-in-2 merge mode, the HP1 can also shoot an 8K video. Samsung claims it can shoot 8K without cropping, even though the standard 8K (7680 x 4320) is lower than 50MP.
Samsung has also introduced a new sensor called ISOCELL GN5. This is a 50MP sensor with 1.0-µm pixels, which Samsung says is the first 1.0-µm pixel sensor to use Dual Pixel Pro technology. This makes it look like a smaller version of the 1.4 µm pixel GN2, which was the largest phone camera sensor available when it debuted in the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra this year.
Samsung has not yet announced when mass production of one of the new sensors will begin, but samples are currently available for handset manufacturers.