There's been a noticeable rise in megapixel count in smartphone camera sensors in recent years. With 48MP sensors now in many mid-range and high-end phones, we've recently seen Xiaomi debut a camera with a whopping 108MP. But if you thought that was crazy, you're in for a treat, as Qualcomm today announced that the Snapdragon 865 chipset supports 200MP camera sensors, and they're actually coming next year.
Without mentioning any names, Qualcomm said that it's been working with camera sensor makers to develop 200MP camera sensors for smartphones, which will only be supported on Snapdragon-powered devices. Qualcomm says that the reason for this is that it allows users to zoom in much further on a picture while preserving detail. Of course, it's also likely that pixels in the sensor will be combined, as we see in the current 48MP and 108MP sensors, in order to make each pixel brighter.
In addition to this, Qualcomm also announced a few other features enabled by its latest chipset. For example, thanks to the improved image processing, you can take high-resolution snapshots while recording 4K video. Currently, taking snapshots while recording is limited to the resolution of the video, but the new chipset will lift that restriction.
There are plenty of other improvements in the Spectra 480 image signal processor that's part of the Snapdragon 865. It has dedicated cores for noise reduction, which will improve low-light shots, and it can also provide 18% more texture in photos. It also supports a much bigger autofocus area, making it easier to capture details of objects that aren't centered in the frame.
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