Samsung's new camera sensor has smallest pixels ever

Samsung Electronics' latest Isocell HP3 image sensor [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics is introducing a high-resolution image sensor with what the company claims to be the smallest pixels in the industry.

If it is successfully used in a smartphone, a big camera bump may no longer be necessary on the back of the device.

An image sensor determines the performance of a camera in a mobile device. The greater the number of pixels an image sensor has, the higher the resolution of the images.

Samsung Electronics’ Isocell HP3 image sensor has 200 million pixels measuring 0.56 micrometer each, which the company says is the smallest in the industry.

Samsung aims to begin mass production this year.

The 0.56-micrometer pixel is 12 percent smaller than its predecessor. Isocell HP1, introduced last September last year, supports the same level of resolution as HP3 with 200 million pixels, but requires a larger sensor.

Therefore the size of a camera module can be reduced by approximately 20 percent with Isocell HP3, potentially eliminating the bump on the back of the device.

Smaller pixel sizes also would allow more cameras on a smartphone or other device. Techno Systems Research (TSR), a Japanese market tracker, forecast that smartphones with three cameras or more will account for 66 percent of the global market by 2025, up from 2 percent in 2018.

Samsung explained that the Isocell HP3 image sensor will have more advanced auto-focusing features, and be capable of taking vibrant pictures in low light.

Samsung Electronics ranked second in the global mobile image sensor market last year, claiming 30.2 percent market share, according to TSR. Japan’s Sony leads the market with a 50.1 percent share.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, LEE SU-JEONG [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]