Samsung is holding a big launch event in San Francisco on February 1 where we’ll see the debut of the Galaxy S23 series. Ahead of that launch, Samsung Electronic has officially unveiled the 200 MP camera sensor just now, named ISOCELL HP2. The sensor is already in production, and this is the same sensor that will be utilized in the upcoming top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone. The ISOCELL HP2 is the successor to the 200MP HP1 that launched last year, and it is the South Korean firm’s third 200MP camera sensor, but never arrived in any Samsung smartphones before.
Samsung says HP2 ISOCELL sensor offers greatly improved image and video quality, and the company also claims that the HP2 packs 200MP of resolution into the same size sensor as the 108MP camera Samsung has been using in its past few “Ultra” flagships.
Compared with other sensors, HP1/HP3 (200MP@7.5fps)and HM3 (100MP@10fps), HM3 sensor achieves an unprecedented 15fps at 200MP pixels. It can be said that HP2 is Samsung’s most powerful sensor and the crystallization of cutting-edge technology. It’s exclusively made only for the S23 Ultra, but not other phones.
It packs in 1/1.3” optical format in size with 200-million 0.6μm pixels and comes with brand-new technology for expanding the dynamic range and enhance color reproduction. Samsung also claims “increasing the full well capacity of the pixel by more than 33%. By absorbing more electrons and efficient signal transmission, this approach reduces overexposure.” We guess Galaxy S23’s HP2 sensor should fix the overly bright S22 Ultra photo issue that many users have been emphasizing.
The 1/1.13-inch sensor uses pixel binning, like other high-megapixel smartphone cameras available in the market today, and it produces better lower resolution final images which will be sharper and of better quality. Using Tetra2Pixel technology, the HP2 sensor can produce 1.2μm 50MP or 2.4μm 12.5MP images. It can also capture up to 8K 30fps videos with a wider field of view in its 1.2μm 50MP mode, by using bigger pixels than previous-generation Galaxy S series phones in 8K mode. The 4-16 pixel binning process will produce strong low light performance.
Samsung also claims that the ISOCELL HP2 is its most advanced camera sensor, and it has the D-VTG (Dual Vertical Transfer Gate) technology that boosts each pixel’s full-well capacity by more than 33%, resulting in enhanced color reproduction and reduction in overexposure. That means you won’t be seeing overexposed and washed-out images in bright conditions.
Another highlight of the ISOCELL HP2 is – it offers faster and more reliable autofocus in low-light conditions by using Super QPD (Quad Phase Detection), and it lets the Galaxy S23 Ultra to use “all 200 million pixels” of the 200MP camera sensor for autofocus in low-light shots such as the moonlight (around 1 lux), which is 100x lower than indoor conditions (100 lux).
It is Samsung’s fastest 200MP sensor, as it can capture 15 full-resolution 200MP images in one second.
By taking advantage of the DSG (Dual Signal Gain) technology in the 50MP mode, it can capture short and long exposures simultaneously, which means it can capture improved HDR images and videos on a pixel level. It also has Smart ISO Pro, which allows the phone to capture 12.5MP images and 4K 60fps HDR videos simultaneously. The sensor can also capture 4K 120fps videos and Full HD 480fps videos (for slow motion or ultra-high frame rate videos).
Reservations for Samsung’s next flagship are open now in the USA, with flat $50 or up to $100 in extra credits. Samsung India also has some offers running for early pre-bookings of the Galaxy S23 series of phones.
Source: Samsung