It is quite probable that the 200-megapixel camera sensor that Samsung introduced last year would be used in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, according to a recent story from Korean source ETNews that Android Authority picked up on. That is a lot of pixels, and Motorola beat Samsung to the punch with the Motorola X30 Pro in the most recent megapixel arms race. Even Apple, a staunch supporter of 12-megapixel cameras, appears to be making the switch to higher resolution 48-megapixel camera sensors with the iPhone 14.
Moving to greater pixel-count sensors delivers genuine benefits for image quality; it’s not just about huge numbers. The focus of this megapixel race chapter is pixel binning. With its 108-megapixel sensor, Samsung already uses this technique. The goal is to combine individual pixels into two-by-two or four-by-four combinations rather than to take photos with extremely high resolution.
Simply said, this new sensor advances technology. Given that the pixels on Apple’s most recent 12-megapixel sensor measure 1.9 mm, the 0.64 mm pixels on Samsung’s 200-megapixel sensor are rather modest. However, combining 16 of them results in pixels that are actually 2.56 mm wide. If all else is equal, larger pixels will gather more light and improve your low-light photographs. There is no chance of accidentally filling up your phone’s storage with 200-megapixel images because the final image you receive has a 12-megapixel resolution by default.
Awesome, right? There is a catch: according to current speculations, it appears that the high-res sensors will only be available on the most costly models of Samsung and Apple’s lineup, the S23 Ultra and the Pro versions of the iPhone 14. Until high-res sensors make their way down to the entry-level flagships, the rest of us will just have to make do with 12 (or, if we’re lucky, 50) megapixel cameras.
