Samsung announces 200MP camera for upcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung has officially launched a 200MP camera sensor for flagship phones. The latest 200-megapixel image sensor is officially called ISOCELL HP2, a successor to the 200MP HP1 that launched last year. While the HP1 was never used on premium Samsung phones, its successor, the HP2 sensor, is set to debut in the Galaxy S23 Ultra flagship phone.

Samsung will officially announce the Galaxy S23 series on February 1. The new flagship lineup will likely consist of Galaxy S23, S23 Plus, and S23 Ultra. However, only the ‘Ultra’ model will come with the most powerful camera specifications and, of course, the only model with the 200MP HP2 camera sensor.

Samsung has highlighted that its new HP2 sensor can produce higher-resolution images in the latest high-end smartphones without larger camera bumps. The South Korean tech giant managed to do this by keeping the sensor size the same as in 108MP main smartphone cameras. As for the numbers go, the ISOCELL HP2 packs 200-million 0.6-micrometer (?m) pixels in a 1/1.3″ optical format.

The HP2 will also come with improvements to low-light photography, 8K video recording at 30 fps, new Dual Vertical Transfer Gate (D-VTG) technology, fast auto-focusing, and many more.

In low-lit settings, the HP2’s auto-focusing is taken to the next level with Super QPD, which allows the sensor to use all its 200-million pixels for focusing agents. The ample amount of focusing agents are grouped by four adjacent pixels to recognize both horizontal and vertical pattern changes that delivers faster and more accurate auto-focusing. Utilizing the rich pattern data along with the sheer number of reference points, the new sensor is capable of fast auto-focusing, even in a dimly lit environment.

Samsung ISOCELL HP2 sensor has entered mass production less than a month before the release of Galaxy S23 Ultra.