Samsung has announced the ISOCELL HP3, a 200-megapixel image sensor that has 12% smaller pixels that can result in a 20% reduction in camera module area. It features what Samsung claims is the industry’s smallest 0.56μm pixel.
The ISOCELL HP3 packs the small 0.56μm pixel size in a 1/1.4-inch optical format, which is the diameter of the area that is captured through the camera lens. Samsung says this means that the HP3 can enable an approximately 20% reduction in the camera module surface area and allow manufacturers to make premium devices slimmer.
In addition to keeping the 200-megapixel resolution of the HP1 and making it smaller (HP1 features a 0.64μm pixel size), Samsung says that it uses the company’s Super QPD autofocusing solution which it claims equips every pixel on the sensor with autofocusing capabilities. Super QPD uses a single lens over four-adjacent pixels to detect the phase differences in both horizontal and vertical directions, which the company says makes for faster and more accurate focusing on smartphones.
