South Korean electronics giants Samsung has confirmed that it is working on image sensors with resolutions as high as 600MP, which is sharper than the human eye can perceive. Samsung was one of the first companies to push the limits and start developing 108MP ISOCELL camera sensors in smartphones. The lens made its way to Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra’s main camera and has also been used by Xiaomi in its smartphones. 

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Human eyes have a resolution of 500MP. This means most of our smartphones are way less capable than human eye. Samsung EVP Yongin Park explained in a company blog post that a 600MP sensor could change that.

“The image sensors we ourselves perceive the world through – our eyes – are said to match a resolution of around 500 megapixels (Mp). Compared to most DSLR cameras today that offer 40Mp resolution and flagship smartphones with 12Mp, we as an industry still have a long way to go to be able to match human perception capabilities,” the blog said.

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Samsung is developing ways to pack a high number of megapixels in small sensors. The company has been using ‘Nonacell technology’ which employs a 3×3 pixel structure compared to a standard 2x2 array. 

“For our latest 108Mp image sensor, the ISOCELL Bright HM1, we implemented our proprietary ‘Nonacell technology,’ which dramatically increases the amount of light absorption pixels are capable of. Compared to previous Tetracell technology which features a 2×2 array, the 3×3 pixel structure of Nonacell technology allows, for instance, nine 0.8μm pixels to function as one 2.4-μm pixel. This also mitigates the issue raised by low-light settings where light information is often scarce,” the blog explained

Samsung said that till now the major applications for image sensors have been in the smartphones field, but this is expected to expand soon into other rapidly-emerging fields such as autonomous vehicles, IoT and drones.

“Through relentless innovation, we are determined to open up endless possibilities in pixel technologies that might even deliver image sensors that can capture more detail than the human eye,” it added.