Samsung Launches Industry’s First 200MP Camera Sensor With Isocell HP1

Samsung is bringing the smartphone camera industry into the 200-megapixel era. The company has announced its new Isocell HP1 sensor, which brings new pixel clustering technology to the market and claims better low-light shooting.

The Isocell HP1 is the industry’s first 200MP resolution sensor. In bright light, the Isocell HP1 can choose to use all 200MP as individual 0.64 micron pixels. It’s by no means the largest individual pixel size we’ve seen on a smartphone camera, but Samsung makes up for it in a nifty way. In darker scenes, Samsung uses its new ChameleonCell pixel clustering technology, which allows the sensor to cluster four or 16 pixels into a single larger pixel. These two configurations efficiently transform Isocell HP1 into a 50MP sensor with 1.28 micron pixels or a 12.5MP sensor with 2.56 micron pixels. Samsung notes that this latest setup increases light absorption and sensitivity for better low-light shooting.

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Pixel clustering is a common way for sensors to extract more light in dimming scenarios, but it has its drawbacks. On the one hand, the more pixels you group together, the more the color accuracy can be affected. Of course, software could be used to work around these limitations, but color accuracy is arguably not the top priority when shooting in very dark environments.

For videographers, the 200MP sensor can also shoot 8K / 30fps video using four-in-one pixel binning.

Samsung has also launched a new sensor in its GN series, but it doesn’t focus on more megapixels. Instead, the Isocell GN5 improves autofocus performance through the use of more photodiodes. Samsung says this translates to near “instant” autofocus speeds. Notably, the GN5 also features 1.0 micron pixels smaller than the 1.4 micron pixels of the Isocell GN2 launched earlier this year.

When will we see phones with 200MP sensors?

It’s unclear when we’ll see the Isocell HP1 or GN5 sensors in consumer smartphones. We’ve heard whispers of a Xiaomi flagship with a 200MP sensor landing in 2022, but no confirmation from the device yet. It’s also unclear whether Samsung will use the 200MP sensor in its next flagship series. Advice so far suggests that no marked camera upgrade is underway for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, but the S22 and S22 Plus could land with 50MP sensors.

That said, now that a 200MP sensor is finally available, we can expect devices to pack it at some point in the future.