Samsung has announced a 200-megapixel resolution sensor designed for smartphone cameras. A record value. It is called ISOCELL HP1 and has pixels of 0.64 μm (micron). However, the main purpose of this sensor is to have a high light gathering capacity in order to generate good images even in low ambient light. As a rule, this can only be achieved with much larger pixels than those that equip the ISOCELL HP1. And this is why the pixels can be grouped in sets of 16 pixels, generating new 2.56 μm pixels.

Thus, according to the Portuguese newspaper Visão, the useful resolution becomes 'only' 12.5 MP, but a higher image quality is guaranteed. Another available option is a combination of 2×2 pixels, which results in 50 MP images. This is also the combination that allows capturing 8K video.

And a 50 MP sensor

In addition to the 200 MP giant, Samsung also announced a 50-megapixel sensor, the ISOCELL GN5. This sensor uses 1 μm pixels with Dual Pixel Pro technology, which means that the pixels are used to detect phase, which allows it to make focusing faster and more accurate. In Samsung's technology, each pixel has two photodiodes whose phase measurements are compared to make the focus.

According to the features announced by the brand, the SOCELL GN5 appears to be a physically smaller version of the GN2, which uses 1.4 μm pixels. This was the largest sensor available for smartphones when it debuted in the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

It is not yet known whether the new sensors will go into serial production, but the South Korean manufacturer has already begun making samples of these sensors available to manufacturers. A usual process, and one that usually means going into production will depend on the appearance of orders in quantities that justify production.