Samsung shows off the features of its massive 200MP ISOCELL HP1 image sensor

Samsung may not be the first company you think of when you mention cameras, but they’re actually one of the leaders when it comes to mobile photography thanks to their work in designing and developing mobile camera sensors. In fact, they’ve got a brand new image sensor to show off that they seem pretty proud of too: the Samsung ISOCELL HP1.

The world’s first 200MP image sensor, the ISOCELL HP1 uses Samsung’s 0.64μm pixels to deliver ultra-high resolution mobile photography. Thanks to the insane pixel count, users should be able to capture pictures in much higher detail than ever before, even when zoomed in or cropped. Samsung have also given the ISOCELL HP1 its new 4×4 hybrid pixel-binning technology, allowing the sensor to tweak its pixel layout to suit the surrounding environment via a deep learning-based software remosaic. The ISOCELL HP1 is capable of 8K video by combining four pixels into one 1.28μm pixel for 8K at 30fps or 4K at 120fps.

Furthermore, Samsung claims that the ISOCELL HP1 delivers improved photos even in low light situations thanks to the 4×4 hybrid pixel-binning. In low light environments the sensor will merge 16 pixels into a large 2.56μm pixel which in turn leads to better and brighter 12.5MP images. The Smart-ISO feature meanwhile lets the sensor automatically adjusts between High ISO and Low ISO mode depending on the ambient light. Image noise is further reduced via multisampling technology where multiple readouts of each pixel is averaged into one.

Samsung’s not done with Smart-ISO there either. Another feature, this time called Smart-ISO Pro, works on Smart-ISO’s capabilities but this time on video recordings, creating HDR videos that are sharper and have fewer motion artifacts. As for photos, Staggered HDR lets the ISOCELL HP1 capture a wide dynamic range of 100db, getting frames at short, middle and long exposures before merging them into a final photo.

Lastly, the ISOCELL HP1 comes with what Samsung is calling the Double Super PD phase detection technology. Like its name suggest, it has twice as many autofocus pixels as their older Super PD technology for faster and accurate autofocus. These pixels have AF micro-lenses that let the user focus on moving objects for better content.

There’s no official word just yet on when we can expect to see 200MP cameras on our smartphones, but a rumour from earlier this year may provide some clues. Back in April, the leakster Digital Chat Station said that Xiaomi will be the first to use a Samsung-made 200MP sensor, while another leakster Ice Universe had claimed that the then-unnamed 200MP sensor will have 0.64μm-sized pixels. So far, the claims match the ISOCELL HP1, but it remains to be seen if we’ll actually be seeing it on a Xiaomi device soon.

For more information on the ISOCELL HP1, you can check out its full press release on the Samsung Newsroom website.