The smartphone megapixel camera wars are back since the days of the Nokia Lumia 1020 and this time around every phone maker is deeply involved in the race, including App that to new technology. If the latest report from Korean outlet ETNews, is to be believed, it’s looking very likely that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will use the 200-megapixel camera sensor that the company launched last year.
Truth be told, that’s a whole lot of pixels, and Samsung isn’t alone in this newest megapixel arms race — Motorola has already recently unveiled the Motorola X30 Pro. Even Apple, a company that has stuck with its 12-megapixel camera sensor since the iPhone 6s (7 years ago) looks like will finally move to higher resolution 48-megapixel camera sensors with the iPhone 14.
ALSO READ: Why 12 Megapixel is a sweet spot for smartphone camera resolution
It’s not all about big numbers; moving to higher-pixel-count sensors has real image quality benefits. The technology enabling smartphone makers to push out more high-resolution cameras is called pixel binning. Samsung already employs this with its 108-megapixel sensor, and taking a super high-res photo isn’t the point — rather, combining individual pixels into four-by-four or two-by-two configurations is. The s22 Ultra has what Samsung called nona-binning because it combines nine pixels into one. The sensor is cut into three by three sections of pixels. Each section is combined to produce a single point of capture for available light. And light is what we see — reflections of different wavelengths of light are individual colors. More light data means better photos and 12 million good data points are better than 108 million not-so-good data points.
This new sensor just takes the technology a step further. The 0.64μm pixels on Samsung’s 200-megapixel sensor are relatively small, considering that the pixels on Apple’s newest 12-megapixel sensor measure 1.9μm. But putting 16 of them together makes for pixels that are effectively 2.56μm. All things being equal, bigger pixels will collect more light and make your low-light images better. By default, you get a 12-megapixel final image, so there’s no risk of unknowingly filling up your phone storage with 200-megapixel photos.
Sounds interesting but there is always a catch — based on rumors right now, it looks like only the most expensive models in Samsung and Apple’s lineup will get the high-res sensors: the S23 Ultra and the Pro models of the iPhone 14.
