The megapixel race for smartphones is going in such a way that some even think it could also replace professional cameras. While that is simply just a dream, word has it that Samsung is developing a whopping 600MP image sensor for smartphones.
The new rumor comes straight from a reliable leakster Ice Universe, who mentions that a smartphone that holds a 600MP image sensor can take up almost 12 percent of the rear side of the device and also protruding up to 22mm. Yes, that is a very big camera bump for smartphones that could be just 8mm thick. And if Samsung plans to pair the 600MP with other multiple cameras of different focal lengths, then you can imagine how big and weird the rear side of the smartphone will look.
Samsung is really doing 600MP sensors! pic.twitter.com/vGgsfxsGGh
— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) December 5, 2020
While we suspect that Samsung would sacrifice the looks of their flagship, the leaked slide Ice Universe shared, mentions that Samsung will “evolve” the ISOCELL technology to solve the issue of the large camera bump. The slide also shows a diagram of how thick the camera module can get when the megapixel increases. Standard 16MP cameras with 1/2.8-inch sensor size and 1.12um pixel density usually have a module thickness of 5.2mm, and the 64MP cameras with 1/1.7-inch sensor size and 0.8um pixel density have a module thickness of 7.2mm.
While such megapixels allows users to zoom in a lot on all their captured photos, we aren’t sure how much image quality will be sacrificed by stuffing 600 megapixels in a small mobile sensor. Currently, there are only a few smartphones that push beyond the 100MP barrier and it will certainly take some time until we see such cameras.
