Samsung introduces 108MP mobile image sensor built in collaboration with Xiaomi

Back in May, Samsung unveiled two ISOCELL image sensors for mobile cameras, one that's 64MP and another that's 48MP. The two sensors were being sampled at the time, but earlier last week, Redmi teased its new 64MP image sensor for smartphone cameras before Xiaomi and Samsung jointly announced a 64MP camera technology as part of their partnership a few days later.

In addition to the 64MP image sensor, Xiaomi also introduced a 108MP sensor at the same time, debuting the industry's first image sensor to go beyond 100MP. Today, Samsung provided more details about the new camera technology.

Samsung says the 108MP ISOCELL Bright HMX uses a 1/1.33-inch sensor size to let more light in, especially in low-light surroundings, making it ideal for mobile photography at night time. Additionally, the sensor is built to produce 27MP images with its Tetracell technology, which merges the pixels and lets the sensor mimic sensors with larger pixels. The sensor can also produce well-saturated and vivid images during day time, courtesy of Samsung's Smart-ISO technology.

Yongin Park, Executive VP of Sensor Business at Samsung Electronics, commented on the new tech, noting:

"Samsung is continuously pushing for innovations in pixel and logic technologies to engineer our ISOCELL image sensors to capture the world as close to how our eyes perceive them. Through close collaboration with Xiaomi, ISOCELL Bright HMX is the first mobile image sensor to pack over 100 million pixels and delivers unparalleled color reproduction and stunning detail with advanced Tetracell and ISOCELL Plus technology."

For video recording, Samsung says the HMX can support up to a 6K resolution at a frame rate of 30 frames per second with a lossless field-of-view. There's no word yet on which smartphone will first adopt the 108MP image sensor, but today's announcement suggests the future of smartphone cameras may give more emphasis on pixel counts. The South Korean tech giant plans to kick off mass production for the image sensor in late August.