Samsung Announces Image Sensor With The “Smallest Pixel Size in the Industry”

Samsung’s image sensors have been all the rage this year: the company introduced the 0.8μm pixels on the 48MP and 64MP sensors and has been working hard on a new product in the meantime as well. 

Samsung has announced what it calls “industry’s first mobile image sensor to adopt the smallest pixel size in the industry at 0.7μm”. This sensor, dubbed the ISOCELL Slim GH1, is a 43.7-megapixel (7,968×5,480) sensor that, according to Samsung, offers “the optimum solution for slim full-display devices”. This might hint that the sensor is actually created with selfie cameras in mind, considering its 32MP 0.8μm sensor is used in a similar manner. 

These small 0.7μm pixels can absorb just enough light information to deliver brighter and more vivid photographs, even in low-light environments. The ISOCELL Slim GH1 uses pixel-merging Tetracell technology which allows for higher light sensitivity that is equivalent to a 1.4μm-pixel image sensor.

The GH1 can also be used for video recording at 4K with a high resolution of 7,968×5,480 with a minimum loss in field of view. Via the Tetracell technology, the GH1 converts to a 3,984×2,740 resolution, which easily covers the 4K video recording (3,840×2,160). This means that the users will be able to capture backgrounds in more details when they record high-resolution videos or take selfies at 60 frames per second. 

According to Samsung, the ISOCELL Slim GH1 will go into mass production by the end of 2019, so we can expect to see it featured on smartphones in early 2020.