Forget 64MP, Samsung joins Xiaomi, launches 1st 108MP mobile image sensor

South Korean tech giant Samsung in partnership with Chinese handset maker Xiaomi on Monday launched a 108MP mobile image sensor called "Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX". This is the fist ever image sensor to go beyond the resolution of a 100 million pixels. 

With the latest addition, Samsung will expand its image sensor offerings from its recently announced ultra-high 64MP to 108MP, a resolution equivalent to that of a high-end DSLR camera, the company said in a statement. 

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"Through close collaboration with Xiaomi, ISOCELL Bright HMX is the first mobile image sensor to pack over 100 million pixels and deliver unparalleled colour reproduction," said Yongin Park, Executive Vice President of Sensor Business at Samsung Electronics.

The new sensor would be able to absorb more light in low-lit settings and its pixel-merging Tetracell technology would allow the sensor to imitate big-pixel sensors, producing brighter 27MP images. 

In bright environments, the Smart-ISO, a mechanism that intelligently selects the level of amplifier gains according to the illumination of the environment for optimal light-to-electric signal conversion, would switch to a low ISO to improve pixel saturation and produce vivid photographs. The mechanism would use a high ISO in darker settings to produce clearer pictures.

For advanced filming, the HMX supports video recording without losses in field-of-view at resolutions up to 6K and 30-frames-per-second (fps).

"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," said Lin Bin, co-founder and President of Xiaomi.

Samsung first announced its ISOCELL technology in 2013. Based on this technology, Samsung introduced the industry`s first 1.0um-pixel image sensor in 2015 and 0.9-pixel sensor in 2017.

Last June, Samsung introduced an upgraded pixel isolation technology, the ISOCELL Plus.