It seems like Samsung, specifically Semiconductor, has not yet done with packing pixels into its smartphone sensors. The company is reportedly dreaming of massive 600MP camera sensors into its smartphones. According to a slide leaked by tipster Ice Universe, Samsung has mentioned its magical 600MP camera once again. The South Korean electronics manufacturer talks up massive camera sensors on phones, their possibilities, and the issues they present, says Android Authority. Though this figure may seem like a pipedream at present, but the company has previously earmarked it as a future milestone.
Samsung earlier talked about its ultimate goal to create a sensor that has the resolution of the human eye. Back in September, Jinhyun Kwon, the Samsung Semiconductor sensor marketing head, in an interview had indicated a 500MP sensor, which is the approximate resolution of the human eye. However, achieving this goal presents various challenges that the leaked slide seems to demonstrate.
Challenges in Creating a 600MP Sensor
One of the major issues that Samsung faces in making a 600MP sensor is a huge camera bump — around 22mm thick — that too if the company uses its 0.8um pixel technology. This would make the camera bump nearly three times thicker than the Galaxy S20 camera. Additionally, the camera would also occupy a vast area of the phone’s rear plate — nearly four times the area of Samsung’s 0.8um 108MP sensors. So, the manufacturer would even need the smaller pixels to reduce the camera bump and area. It’s worth noting that Samsung recently hit the 0.7um pixel mark with its Isocell HM2 sensor.
Note that the slide does not confirm whether Samsung has started working on a 600MP sensor or not. As the bulky sensors would hinge on practicality and portability if employed on smartphones, the technology to bring them to phones would be very challenging. However, the company does suggest larger sensors as these would improve video capture at 4K and 8K resolutions. The company says that larger sensors would also improve cropped image quality. For those wanting to see a 600MP sensor on their phones, there’s no telling how long you’ll have to wait. However, we expect Samsung to pack more pixels in their future phones.
