Samsung Unveils Industry's Smallest Pixel Image Sensor with 200 Million Pixels... Mass Production Within the Year

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[Asia Economy Reporter Sunmi Park] Samsung Electronics has unveiled the image sensor 'ISOCELL HP3' equipped with 200 million pixels of the industry's smallest 0.56㎛ pixel size. This product is planned to be mass-produced within the year and is expected to be an opportunity for Samsung to take the lead in the image sensor market, which is being reorganized around ultra-high resolution.

On the 23rd, Samsung Electronics announced that the 'ISOCELL HP3' is designed with a pixel size of 0.56㎛, which is 12% smaller than previous products. Considering the size of a human hair (50~100㎛), spider web (3~8㎛), and bacteria (1㎛), the 0.56㎛ pixel is an ultra-fine size that is invisible to the naked eye, applying Samsung's unique super-gap technology. Using this product can reduce the size of the camera module installed in mobile devices by up to 20%.

The 'HP3' applies the phase detection autofocus technology 'Super QPD,' which utilizes all 200 million pixels. It can focus faster and more accurately by using phase differences left-right and up-down. Along with full-pixel autofocus, it supports 8K ultra-high resolution video at 30 frames per second and 4K high-resolution video at 120 frames per second, realizing 'cinema camera' performance at the level of movie shooting. In particular, this product's significant feature is supporting ultra-high resolution 8K video shooting at the same field of view as photo shooting.

The 'Smart ISO Pro' technology embedded in 'HP3' synthesizes low sensitivity (low ISO) images with medium sensitivity (medium ISO) or high sensitivity (high ISO) images to express dark scenes more delicately. Unlike before, when only low and high sensitivity images were synthesized, medium sensitivity images can now also be utilized, providing optimized images for the situation. 'HP3' supports 14-bit, improving color expression 64 times compared to previous products, enabling more vivid and realistic image quality.

With the mass production of ISOCELL HP3, Samsung Electronics has a great opportunity to significantly increase its market share in the mobile image sensor market. According to market research firm TSR, ultra-high resolution image sensors with over 100 million pixels are expected to increase from about 1% share in 2020 to about 11% in 2025, with approximately 120 million units installed in smartphone cameras this year and expected to increase to 200 million units by 2025. Samsung Electronics is continuously releasing ultra-high resolution image sensor products based on ultra-fine pixels and is working to narrow the gap with No.1 Sony. Last September, Samsung unveiled the world's first 200 million pixel product based on 0.64㎛ ultra-small pixels.

As a smartphone equipped with a 200 million pixel image sensor is expected to be released this year, Samsung Electronics anticipates an increase in its global market share of image sensors. Samsung Electronics' mobile image sensor market share recorded 30.2% last year, up 2.2 percentage points, narrowing the gap with Sony (50.1%), which saw a 3 percentage point decline compared to the previous year.

Im Jun-seo, Vice President and Head of the Sensor Business Team at the System LSI Division, said, "Samsung Electronics opened the era of 100 million pixel image sensors for the first time in the industry in 2019 and also launched the 200 million pixel image sensor first last year, leading market trends through ultra-small pixel technology. We will continue to innovate user experiences with the new 'HP3' product, which has the industry's smallest pixel size."

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