Samsung just showed off this 200-megapixel smartphone image sensor

Samsung has unveiled the Isocell HP2, a new 200-megapixel image sensor that should allow smartphone users to take higher resolutions photos without larger camera bumps in their devices

Samsung doesn’t quite say where the sensor might be used, other than saying “improved pixel technology and full-well capacity for stunning mobile images in tomorrow’s premium smartphones”. 

But some industry watchers are already speculating that this new sensor could find its way into the Galaxy S23 Ultra 2023 update. Samsung is hosting an Unpacked event in San Francisco on February 1 and is expected to announce the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra. 

The Samsung ISOCELL HP2 has entered mass production, Samsung said.

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Samsung also notes that the HP2 in a 1/1.3-inch optical format is a size used in 108MP main smartphone cameras. The benefit for consumers is a higher resolution camera that’s no larger than the camera in last year’s flagship, meaning the camera bump doesn’t grow but its capacity does. 

The sensor also uses Samsung’s Tetra pixel-binning technology, which combines pixels to better handle different lighting levels. In low-light conditions, the 200MP image sensor becomes either a 50MP or a 12.5MP image sensor. For 8K video, it switches to 50MP mode to minimize cropping. 

The HP2 promises to reduce overexposure of images taken in brightly lit environments, while in low-lit settings, the HP2 is still capable of autofocusing since it uses all 200 million pixels to help focus an image. 

HDR is an improvement to Samsung’s DSG feature — in 50MP mode, it applies two separate conversion values to the analog signal received at the pixel level. It also has the Smart-ISO Pro HRD feature that allows the camera to take 12.5MP images and 4K at 60fps video in HDR.