Samsung has announced the launch of its ISOCELL HP1, the world’s first 200MP smartphone sensor. But in a digital world dictated by bandwidth (or lack of it), are we ready?
Back in April 2020, we examined Samsung’s 600MP sensor ambitions, and specifically the company’s aim of providing sensors that capture better image quality than the human eye.
At the time this was purely a target, but the assumption was that Samsung had something up its sleeve. Otherwise, why say it? Besides, the tech giant certainly had form, producing the industry’s first 64MP sensor in 2020 before announcing a 108MP sensor later in the year.
Samsung has now taken another big step closer to its goal, with the announcement of its ISOCELL HP1 – the industry’s first 200MP mobile image sensor. To put that into context, the only other sensors that currently come close to this resolution offer 150MP and are found in Phase One professional medium format cameras. However, these can set you back a five-figure sum and certainly won’t fit in your pocket.
You can learn more about the sensor technology here or watch the below video to see exactly what it is capable of. Namely, a 616m2 print of a cat.
While there are many advantages to offering such high resolutions, will the everyday smartphone user really see the benefit? In this article, we take a look at the how and the why behind this tech, and discuss why it can never work within the current online image ecosystem.
How do you fit 200MP into a smartphone sensor?
Such high sensor resolutions have historically only been squeezed into much larger medium format sensors, which can measure over 5cm on the longest edge. So you’d be forgiven for wondering how this can work in a smartphone sensor that is a fraction of the size.
The answer is in the size of the pixels. Samsung has been working hard to create the smallest sensor pixels out there at just 0.65µm – tiny compared to the 3.76µm pixels of the aforementioned Phase One sensor. With far less space taken up by each pixel, there’s plenty of extra room to pack more in.
Image quality vs. resolution
Those new to sensor technology may wonder why everyone isn’t doing this. The answer? Image quality.
Image quality is determined, in large part, by the amount of light a sensor absorbs, and the bigger each individual pixel is, the more light that can be captured.
Therefore, camera manufacturers are faced with a trade-off. By reducing pixel size and packing more into a sensor, it’s possible to achieve extremely high image resolutions – but with smaller pixels, less light can be absorbed, so image quality suffers.
That’s the reason for the larger medium format sensors mentioned above; they allow manufacturers to maximize both the size of the pixels and the number of pixels included. This means they can produce images with stunning detail, while retaining a wide dynamic range and the ability to perform in low-light conditions.
Pixel-binning technology
The way Samsung has overcome this trade-off is by using clever pixel-binning technology. In lower-light conditions, the technology automatically merges sets of adjacent pixels together to create one larger pixel with greater sensitivity.
This does of course mean that you sacrifice output resolution, which is reduced to as little as 12.5MP in the lowest light. However, that’s still higher than the iPhone 12 Pro’s maximum resolution of 12MP.
Why do you need 200MP in a smartphone sensor?
On the face of it, the attraction of Samsung’s 200MP smartphone sensor is clear. Not only can you enjoy extreme detail in still images and 8K video capabilities, but all those extra pixels can also greatly enhance digital zoom performance.
However, digital zoom aside, will the everyday user really see the benefit? In our super-connected modern world, photography has never been more important as a means of communication. While the photo-printing industry is on the rise, the vast majority of smartphone images will only ever be shared digitally – and with social media forming such an important part of our lives, many will indeed be taken specifically for that purpose.
With webpage loading times noticeably impacted by images larger than 2000px on the longest edge and most social media platforms applying significant compression to uploads, what will become of the huge 16,384 x 12,288px files captured by high-resolution sensors like this one? Will they languish unopened in the cloud? Or, worse still, simply be deleted for taking up too much precious disk space?
The answer is unclear, but what’s certain is that the historic method of online image display is becoming obsolete in the face of such rapid advances in digital imaging.
While the fastest broadband download speed in the world reportedly stands at 226.60Mbps in Singapore, the same report shows that there are nearly 1.5bn people around the world who suffer speeds slower than 20Mbps. So what can be done to maximize both quality and user experience for everyone?
The role of image-streaming technology
One way for this new technology to thrive is through image streaming. Rather than uploading image files directly to a website, they are uploaded to a central server and then streamed to individual websites using an embed code – much like embedding a YouTube video.
By using this method, only the optimum number of pixels required within the frame are streamed at any one moment. This enables users to zoom in to the finest details of the photograph they are viewing, without the usual impact on page loading times caused by the use of high-resolution images.
Learn more: More detail than ever: Hyper Zoom meets 100MP images
The result is the best of both worlds: extremely high-resolution images displayed in all their detailed glory, combined with fast loading speeds to ensure maximum page optimization for all users.
The future
There is no doubt that image resolution will continue to increase, with Samsung itself planning to release a 576MP mobile sensor by 2025. And while exact details are yet to be confirmed, one thing is certain: with increased resolution comes increased file size.
So, in a world where most photographs we take are made to share digitally, how can the current method of online image display be sustainable? Why would users invest in super-high-resolution sensor technology if they are unable to use the full extent of its capabilities to express themselves?
If the Samsung ISOCELL HP1 and others like it are to be truly successful, there needs to be a change to the way we view images online. With widespread adoption of image-streaming technology across websites, social media, and messenger apps, we can take the online image ecosystem to a whole new level of quality.
This is just one of the many advantages of streaming images. Additional benefits include image security, analytics, and revenue through in-image advertising.
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