Samsung and Xiaomi have teamed up and announced a new smartphone camera sensor with more than 50 percent more pixels. The new Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX, is a 108-megapixel sensor that Samsung says is the first to go beyond the 100 million pixel milestone for phones. It will produce high resolution photographs, and also shoot in 6K video (6016 x 3384) at 30 fps.
This is a very high resolution for camera phones but Samsung says it will is also able to produce high quality 27-megapixel images by combining groups of four pixels into one in process known as pixel binning. That results in an image that’s a lower resolution overall, but it should mean it’s far brighter, helping low-light performance. Meanwhile, the sensor is also equipped with what Samsung is calling its “Smart-ISO” technology, which will automatically adjust the sensor’s ISO levels to compensate for brightly-lit or low light environments. 27-megapixel images will be the default
No smartphone camera has been announced by either Samsung or Xiaomi, however, its large 1/1.33-inch size, which is around three quarters of the size of the 1-inch sensor found in the Sony RX100 VII compact camera, means it might not be an ideal fit for every smartphone out there.
This smartphone camera sensor is most likely to make its maiden appearance in the Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 could be the first before any Samsung device. With the sensor expected to enter mass production later this month, we could see the first handset that uses it before the end of the year. As smartphones get better hardware to take better images, some may urge that computational photography goes a long way to produce high quality images on smartphones just like Google Pixel Phones.
Do you think 108 Megapixel is an over kill for smartphone photography? Leave a comment below.
