Samsung and Xiaomi have announced the world’s first 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor. The collaborative effort between the two mobile device manufactures is likely to appear in an incoming Xiaomi Redmi smartphone.
The 1/1.33-inch ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor, developed by Samsung in collaboration with Xiaomi, is one of the largest smartphone sensors ever, about three quarter the size of the 1-inch sensor on Sony’s RX100 VII. That’s just a touch smaller than the sensor Nokia used on its legendary Pureview 808 phone.
Samsung’s latest smartphones have been criticized for inferior low-light performance compared to the Huawei P30 Pro and other models that use Sony chips. By simply boosting the size of the chip, Samsung can effectively remedy that problem. In announcing the new ISOCELL Bright HMX, Samsung revealed that its sensor can produce great photographs in ‘extreme’ lighting conditions, thanks to over 100 million effective pixels.
Xiaomi and Samsung have worked closely together from the early conceptual stage to production that has resulted in this groundbreaking 108Mp image sensor. According to Lin Bin, co-founder and president of Xiaomi, this innovation ensures that the picture resolutions previously available only in a few top-tier DSLR cameras can now be designed into smartphones. Mr Bin went further to say that “As we continue our partnership, we anticipate bringing not only new mobile camera experiences but also a platform through which our users can create unique content.”
The Samsung announcement said that the production of the new chip will begin later this month, Samsung said.
The main question to ask now, with this innovation in smartphone sensors, what will happen to the sales of compact cameras?