Home Technology Samsung introduces a 108-megapixel camera lens

Samsung introduces a 108-megapixel camera lens

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If you ever want to see just how fast technology is progressing, just take a look at the camera on your mobile phone. A little over 10 years ago phone cameras were something that took such low-res pictures that you only used them when your traditional camera wasn’t around. These days not only have phone cameras improved immensely, but they are often just as good, if not better than some of their bigger counterparts despite a lens size that is infinitely smaller.

And it’s about to get even more ridiculous as Samsung has announced a new sensor that can capture resolutions of up to 108-megapixels. Let that ridiculous number sink in as you cry over your phone’s cutting edge 30-megapixel camera that you thought was good. Samsung has announced their new ISOCELL Bright HMX, which was designed in collaboration with Xiaomi, which is a 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor that Samsung says is the first to surpass the 100 million pixel milestone for phones. As well as producing high-resolution photographs, the sensor can also shoot in 6K video (6016 x 3384) at 30 fps.

It’s a resolution that a person is unlikely to ever actually need and will probably take up so much space on your phone that you wouldn’t have space for much else once you take a few snaps, but does highlight just how fast camera sensor technology is developing. Of course, just because you can capture a lot of detail doesn’t mean the camera is any good as there is a whole host of other things required to take a good picture – like anyone other than me taking it – but it’s still incredibly impressive, nonetheless.

Samsung has not announced exactly which phone they intend to introduce this photographic behemoth with though considering the sensors large 1/1.33-inch size, which Engadget notes is around three quarters of the size of the 1-inch sensor found in the Sony RX100 VII compact camera, there might not be a smartphone out there that is ready for this and they might take longer to develop the sensor further to reduce its size before introducing it into a phone.

Now if only they could get battery technology to evolve that fast and then we might actually have a something that I’d want to have in my phone so that I don’t need to charge it every day.

Last Updated: August 13, 2019

8 Comments

  1. G8crasha

    August 13, 2019 at 16:06

    So true. Battery technology is taking too long to progress. If this research moved as fast as the research into the camera functionality of phones, we could’ve had phones that last 1 month on one charge with excessive use by now!!!!

    Reply

    • Gareth Lagesse (eXCheez)

      August 13, 2019 at 16:17

      Battery research is coming along faster than you realise. The problem is that phone processing requirements are advancing at the same rate.

      Reply

    • HvR

      August 13, 2019 at 16:17

      It is actually advancing at a blistering speed; problem is as battery capabilities increase they phone manufacturer increases the power they draw from them for processing and all those other nice features keeping the battery life current.

      Just on the cost level, the battery you find in the average R4k smartphone would alone have cost you over R5000 in 2010.

      Battery longevity also increased about 4 fold, remember couple of years ago a battery barely lasted 2 years and still keep 50% of its charge. That is why all of the FixIt cellphone shops are closing down since that was a major part of their business.

      Reply

  2. Gareth Lagesse (eXCheez)

    August 13, 2019 at 16:06

    How well is that actually going to shoot in low light, and how will the auto-focus handle that many pixels? There are many factors that need to work hand in hand with this.

    (Not that the author of this will ever read this) My Note9 lasts nearly three days. The tech is already here.

    Reply

  3. Yahtzee

    August 13, 2019 at 16:06

    Will this help me get more clicks/views/likes for my 2min Noodle and Tuna food pics?

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Umbra

      August 14, 2019 at 08:39

      Short answer, needs more cowbell

      Reply

  4. Weanerdog

    August 13, 2019 at 17:20

    Just a comment, it’s the sensor size not the lens that’s 108mp in the heading. Also as far as size goes I am pretty certain that the Nokia pureview and lumia 1020 had bigger physical sensors, although at lower resolutions.

    Do you know if this is going to be shot through a single lens or if it’s going to be a multiple exposure through a number of lenses to get the resolution?

    Reply

  5. Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

    August 14, 2019 at 11:45

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