After the CPU clock cycle, the mobile number game seems to shift to pixels. Although it has been repeatedly proven that higher does not always mean better, which has not stopped producers from showing off large numbers, especially in marketing material. Not too sick if you have a dozen or even hundreds of megapixels if you can cram a lot in the sensor, but Samsung might take items for extreme in a few years. Not satisfied with the 200MP sensor which was recently announced, apparently wanted to have more than two times as many as 2025.
The pixel-pixels are pretty much that capture light information, especially colors, so you will assume that the more you have, the better the image produced. Unfortunately, there are other factors that need to be considered in producing digital images, such as lenses, color accuracy, exposure, white balance, and more. Apple and then Google proves how even a 12MP sensor can outperform a larger camera, especially with some computational magic involved.
There is also a consequence in trying to cram so many pixels in the sensor that needs to fit on a smartphone. One of the biggest disadvantages is cross talks between pixels that are tightly packed, something designed by Samsung Isocell technology to ward off. Furthermore, increasing the number of pixels in the same sensor size, however, presents more manufacturing challenges and techniques to maintain well-insulated pixels.
Of course, it won’t stop Samsung from dreaming, and SVP company & Automotive Sensor Head HaChang Lee reveals that they imagine a 576MP cellular image sensor in 2025. Using the newly announced “Chameloencell” binning pixel technology, which can be translated into 36MP images inside certain conditions and settings. However, the many pixels, maybe too much to imagine using current manufacturing and technical technology today.
Four years are still far away, and cellular photography trends may change drastically. Samsung’s current performance in the area has not been really good consistently, and maybe the company might be better served by focusing on increasing current photography technology before bragging about innovation several other phone makers to use.
