Samsung just unveiled the first smartphone camera that goes beyond 100 megapixels

Samsung

• Samsung and Xiaomi have developed a 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor called the Isocell Bright HMX designed to take ultra-detailed photos and super high resolution video (up to 6K).
• The Isocell Bright HMX is also designed to take better low-light shots by merging pixels to absorb more light, which reduces the megapixel count from 108 to 27.
• It's the first smartphone camera sensor to surpass 100 megapixels, Samsung says.
• It's likely that an upcoming Xiaomi smartphone will feature the Isocell Bright HMX camera sensor, but it's still unclear if a future Samsung phone or other smartphones will feature the sensor.
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Samsung announced a new camera sensor on Monday designed for smartphones that packs 108 megapixels. To give you some perspective, smartphone cameras typically have about 12 to 16 megapixels.

Samsung's new 108-megapixel camera sensor, the "Isocell Bright HMX," is the first to go above 100 megapixels for a smartphone camera, the company says. The megapixel count is comparable to a high-end DSLR camera.

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With its 108 megapixels, the Isocell Bright HMX is designed to shoot extremely detailed photos. It's also designed to take better low-light shots by merging the pixels in order to absorb more light. When the pixels are merged, the megapixel count is reduced from 108 to 27, which is still over twice as many as a standard smartphone camera.

Samsung

The Samsung Isocell Bright HMX smartphone camera sensor with 108 megapixels.

For recording video, Samsung's Isocell Bright HMX can shoot up to 6K resolution at 30 frames per second, where the highest video resolution that smartphone cameras have been able to shoot is 4K at 60 frames per second.

Samsung worked in partnership with Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi to develop the Isocell Bright HMX smartphone camera sensor, so it's likely that the sensor will be featured in an upcoming Xiaomi phone. Samsung didn't mention whether its own smartphones or other smartphone makers in the future will feature the 108-megapixel sensor.

Samsung said it's starting mass production of the Isocell Bright HMX sensor later this month.