Samsung has announced a new sensor with more than 50 percent more pixels. The Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX, which was designed in collaboration with Xiaomi, is a 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor that Samsung says is the first to surpass the 100 million pixel milestone for phones.
As well as producing high resolution photographs, the sensor can also shoot in 6K video (6016 x 3384) at 30 fps.
Samsung’s Smart-ISO mechanism will automatically select lower ISOs in brighter light, and high ISOs in dim shooting situations. Hopefully, Xiaomi will give users manual control over those settings, as well. Along with the high-resolution and low-light photo shooting, the sensor will allow for 6K movies at 30 fps (6,016 x 3,384), an incredible feat for a smartphone camera.
Samsung’s latest smartphones have been criticized for inferior low-light performance compared to the Huawei P30 Pro and other models that use Sony chips. By simply boosting the size of the chip, Samsung can effectively remedy that problem. At the same time, bigger smartphone sensors give consumers another reason not to buy compact cameras. Production of the new chip will begin later this month, Samsung said.
Samsung is yet to announce which will be the first phone to use the new sensor, but one tipster has suggested that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 could be the first. With the sensor expected to enter mass production later this month, we could see the first handset that uses it before the end of the year.
Samsung announced the launch of the 108MP CMOS ISOCELL Bright HMX, the world's first mobile CMOS with more than 100 million pixels, which is the result of cooperation between Xiaomi and Samsung. 1/1.33 inch sensor size, very exciting, this CMOS Will be unique to Xiaomi MIX4. pic.twitter.com/pvMnxFSUiz
— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) August 12, 2019
