Samsung

Samsung launches new ultra-slim 20-megapixel ISOCELL sensors for full-screen smartphones

Damien Wilde | Jan 22 2019 - 6:04 am PT

We’re seeing a seismic shift from notched smartphones to those with full-screens and so, Samsung has changed tact to offer and produce tech that fits this new industry aesthetic by unveiling its new ultra-slim 20-megapixel ISOCELL image sensors.

This new sensor has been designed specifically with punch-hole displays in mind but the 0.8μm-pixel ISOCELL Slim 3T2 sensor can be used for both front and rear cameras. That said, it has still been designed to fit inside those increasingly more common punch holes or display cutouts.

With Samsung already producing the Infinity-O displays, it stands to reason that they would offer a camera solution to sit in the display cutout. This sensor relies on Samsung’s own ISOCELL Plus technology with 20 million active 0.8μm-sized pixels for exceptional color fidelity.

The tech is also said to allow the sensors to capture and absorb more light information for even better color representation even with these sub-micrometer-sized pixels. If chosen as a rear-facing camera sensor, the 3T2 adopts an RGB color filter array rather than the Tetracell technology. It means that the ISOCELL image sensors can be used for telephoto camera lens options.

With a smaller sensor size, it means that this 20-megapixel sensor can retain up to 60% higher effective resolution at 10x digital zoom over a 13-megapixel sensor. That should all equate to clearer and more accurate overall image results when used as part of a telephoto zoom camera setup.