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Samsung has unveiled its latest smartphone camera sensor with a new feature called Dual Pixel Pro that promises faster and more precise autofocus. The 50-megapixel ISOCELL GN2 sensor will likely come to smartphones and other next-gen Galaxy devices from Samsung.
With Dual Pixel phase detection technology, used by both Samsung and Canon, each pixel of the sensor is vertically divided into two photodiodes. Since they receive light from slightly different angles, focus is calculated quickly and directly based on the offset. Every pixel of the sensor is used for autofocus, increasing AF speeds without affecting the performance of the sensor. This differs from ordinary phase detection sensors, which use far fewer AF pixels distributed around the sensor and negatively impact the performance of the sensor.
Samsung’s Dual Pixel Pro sensors divide pixels diagonally rather than vertically. By doing this, each pixel can compare the incoming light from top to bottom, as well as left to right as before. This allows the system to calculate autofocus faster in certain cases, like when you rotate your smartphone, for example. (According to a recent patent, Canon would divide the pixels into quarters to accomplish the same thing.)
Another new feature of the GN2 sensor is what Samsung calls Staggered HDR technology. If you shoot high contrast scenes like sunsets, it can capture multiple images in short, medium and long exposures. This means that you may have to hold the camera still to capture a photo, although it supposedly uses 24% less power compared to Samsung’s Real-Time HDR mode.
The GN2 also uses a new feature called Smart ISO. This effectively uses multiple ISO settings in a single photo to “create high dynamic range images with less motion artifacts,” according to Samsung. In extremely low light conditions, it can quickly take and process multiple images at high ISO, increasing light sensitivity to nearly ISO 1 million while reducing noise.
Finally, the GN2 can produce 100 megapixel images thanks to an intelligent re-mosaic algorithm, merging three individual 50 megapixel layers in red, green and blue. “These frames are then scaled and merged to produce a single, ultra-high resolution 100 megapixel photograph,” according to Samsung. As before, it can also combine four pixels into one for better low-light sensitivity, at the cost of lower resolution.
The GN2 sensor is now in production, which means it will likely appear in future Samsung Galaxy smartphones. It could be a future Galaxy Note device or Samsung’s next-gen Galaxy phones (the S22?) Coming out next year.
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