Samsung is prepping ridiculous camera upgrades for Galaxy flagships

Before we excavation into this tantalizing, mind-bendingly eager leak, drawback nan biggest fistful of skepticism you can. Got it? Let’s get into it. According to a caller leak, Samsung is cooking up a camera sensor pinch an astounding 324-megapixel solution that could look successful a flagship telephone 2 years from now.

According to leakster Sanju Choudhary, nan Galaxy S26 Ultra will travel equipped pinch nan in-house ISOCELL HR1 sensor that yields a 324MP sensor output. That’s nan astir megapixel-heavy smartphone sensor we’ve travel across, eclipsing the 200-megapixel units Samsung is presently hawking.

The 324MP camera will reportedly characteristic a 1/1.2-inch sensor. Now, do support successful mind that Samsung hasn’t officially confirmed immoderate plans to make sensors that transverse nan 200MP threshold. However, this wouldn’t beryllium nan first clip we person heard rumors of Samsung’s ISOCELL section chasing thing genuinely bonkers.

The S26 Ultra mightiness usage nan 324MP ISOCELL HR1 1/1.2" (Hexa² pixel) arsenic a main sensor.
The 3x Telephoto sensor will characteristic a 50MP sensor.

Thoughts?? https://t.co/UCvveBEMpD pic.twitter.com/kMjXaDjBjl

— Sanju Choudhary (@saaaanjjjuuu) October 25, 2024

“Production hasn’t kicked successful arsenic of now. But nan improvement is almost done according to nan sources,” Choudhary exclusively told Digital Trends. He further told america that nan institution is besides moving connected an moreover larger 432MP camera sensor.

Late past year, different leak mentioned plans for a 320MP camera module being successful improvement astatine Samsung. But nan leak didn’t extremity there. It besides mentioned an moreover much ludicrous 440MP camera sensor, much than double nan solution output of nan champion that nan smartphone manufacture presently has to offer.

Now, arsenic per nan latest accusation dump from nan onshore of leaks, nan upcoming 324MP ISOCELL sensor would apt execute 2 consecutive cycles of pixel binning that impact six adjacent pixel units each time.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

For nan unaware, ample camera sensors trust connected a process called pixel binning that combines adjacent pixels (in formats for illustration 2×2, 3×3, and 4×4) to create a larger super-pixel tin of collecting much ray information successful bid to nutrient much elaborate shots. In immoderate cases, nan process happens twice.

Take for illustration nan ISOCELL HP2 sensor by Samsung, which comes successful astatine 200MP successful its autochthonal state. In its first tetra compartment binning stage, it produces 50MP shots. It tin besides spell different information of binning to nutrient images that are efficaciously 12.5MP successful resolution.

Chaudhary tells maine that some nan 324MP and 432MP sensors successful improvement astatine Samsung will travel nan dual hexagonal binning format. He besides mentioned that nan erstwhile offers 0.52-micron pixels. The latter, however, will spell pinch an moreover larger sensor. On a broadside note, nan 200MP sensor wrong nan Galaxy S23 Ultra already delivers awesome results.

Those numbers mightiness sound ridiculous, but Samsung is apparently rather superior astir nan progress. In 2021, astatine nan SEMI Europe Summit, a Samsung executive highlighted plans to push a 576MP sensor by 2025. Assuming Samsung earnestly chased that goal, we mightiness beryllium conscionable a fewer months distant from seeing a 576MP smartphone camera sensor (via Digital Photography Review).

Are we getting backmost to nan genuinely ridiculous era of smartphone cameras? Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

When I expressed my skepticism astir Samsung’s attack of processing ridiculously pixel-dense camera sensors, Chaudhary agreed that take would so beryllium a problem, particularly from nan position of nan costs progressive and nan optimization required to get results from specified dense sensors.

But really acold are we from seeing nan 324MP camera sensor? “The 324-megapixel sensors improvement is astir to get ready,” Choudhary reiterated, adding that he’s “quite a spot confident” astir nan developments astatine Samsung.

Meanwhile, we’ve already seen nan alleged renders of nan Galaxy S25 Ultra, and immoderate of its imaginable soul upgrades arsenic well. It seems a creation refresh is connected nan way, pinch immoderate superior firepower boost from Qualcomm’s caller Snapdragon 8 Elite strategy connected a chip.

The adjacent Unpacked arena from Samsung will apt hap successful January, and we’ll hopefully spot a batch much than conscionable Galaxy S25 bid smartphones astatine nan glitzy motorboat fest.