geeteam Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 (edited) 16 MP camera modules with low-light friendly ISOCELL technology aren't the only thing brewing at Samsung for next year's flagships, it seems. Korean media is reporting on an even more resolute, 20 MP sensor being in the pipeline.The source claims that December 1st marked the date when Samsung's R&D department commenced a project to develop such sensor from scratch, including the autofocus actuators and the elaborate lens set. There's no word as to whether this 20 MP unit will also utilize the space-saving ISOCELL tech, or have optical image stabilization. For Samsung to adopt OIS in flagships like the S5 would mean at least 50 million suspensions mechanisms for the camera have to be procured, and there is not nearly enough yield for that yet. Perhaps that is why the sources mention that the new 20 MP sensor won't be ready until the second half of 2014, and maybe even reach Samsung flagships in 2015.As for next year, the 16 MP ISOCELL sensor is expected to land on 25% of Samsung handsets sold, which would peg its production to about 90 million units, which probably will include both the Galaxy S5 and the Note 4. There is a big batch of 13 MP and 16 MP Sony sensors procured by Samsung for next year, say the sources, so we can expect the megapixel race to be kept alive by the Koreans, in order to offset somewhat the ever more resolute and elaborate phone cameras with OIS that the competition is and will be bringing. With the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 Samsung proved it can create a phone that takes very good low-light pictures even without OIS tech, so we keep out hopes high for the 16 MP editions next year, too. Source Edited December 2, 2013 by geeteam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calguyhunk Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 While any innovation is good news, for a majority of users, it will be more beneficial to have OIS, optical zoom and relatively noise free, better exposed low light photos from their camera phones rather than an ever increasing megapixel count. Unless you're putting up a gigantic hoarding, it doesn't make a whole lotta difference as to whether you're using a 5Mp sensor or a 40Mp one ;)Make no mistake, ideally I'll have both, but given the option, I'd rather see these implemented rather than a just a mad rush for megapixels alone. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteam Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 Of course, Well said and noted, but you only know your people (ScamSung) always rushing into new things and later brings out to the most flawless thing i have ever seen. that is the reason why i hate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janedoe Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 While any innovation is good news, for a majority of users, it will be more beneficial to have OIS, optical zoom and relatively noise free, better exposed low light photos from their camera phones rather than an ever increasing megapixel count. Unless you're putting up a gigantic hoarding, it doesn't make a whole lotta difference as to whether you're using a 5Mp sensor or a 40Mp one ;)Actually you're slightly off the mark - it does make a huge difference as to whether you're using a 5MP sensor or a 41MP one (like the fantastic Nokia Lumia 1020), but not in the way you think. I agree with you when it comes to the megapixel war (kinda like the CPU MHz war), but see, the point is not to capture gigantic hoarding-sized images at the full 41MP (how many of us would have use for such images anyway?) Where all those extra pixels come in handy is when you oversample each pixel and then downsample the image to say 5 or 8MP (which is the iPhone 5s max resolution). This reduces digital artifacting, achieves noise reduction, improves the SNR and dynamic range of the image and so on. Read the excellent Lumia 1020 white paper for more details on the amazing tech behind it all and how exactly it helps. If you haven't got a chance to do so yet, try and get your hands on the 1020 and check its 8MP downsampled images. If possible compare with some shots from an iPhone and prepare to be blown away by the difference. So if Samsung is planning to implement a similar technique using a high-megapixel oversampled binary image sensor, I'm all for it! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calguyhunk Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) ... if Samsung is planning to implement a similar technique using a high-megapixel oversampled binary image sensor, I'm all for it! :)I'm all for it even without oversampling. But it's just that it's still digital manipulation, and you can't really compare that qualitatively with optical zoom. Better than all camera phones, yes, but not quite an entry level DSLR in terms of image quality, is it? :(The flagship DSLR from Nikon, the D4 has a 16MP sensor and the Cannon flagship, the 1Dx and an 18 MP sensor. Both cost in the vicinity of $6,000. So it's not quite the megapixel count that makes for a good camera, but it does make for a good headline just like the Intel/AMD Mhz war LOL! :lol: Edited December 3, 2013 by calguyhunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janedoe Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 (edited) I'm all for it even without oversampling. But it's just that it's still digital manipulation, and you can't really compare that qualitatively with optical zoom. Better than all camera phones, yes, but not quite an entry level DSLR in terms of image quality, is it? :(But I never stated these things are mutually exclusive. You can optically zoom and then capture an oversampled image to downsample later.Of course a mobile camera can nowhere compare with a costly DSLR with a larger sensor; there's absolutely no debate on this point (although in my experience the 1020 can under good conditions give some cheap entry-level DSLRs a run for their money). I think at this point we both agree that optical zoom, image stabilization combined with a high megapixel count that aids in oversampling provides the best combination possible. :) Without oversampling a larger megapixel count makes no sense, and only gullible non-technical people fall for all that marketing BS not realizing that the ability to create hoarding sized posters isn't quite useful while taking snaps of their loved ones. Sans techniques such as oversampling all those extra megapixels mean squat when all you're doing is taking 5 or 8MP photos. Edited December 3, 2013 by janedoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calguyhunk Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 But I never stated these things are mutually exclusive. You can optically zoom and then capture an oversampled image to downsample later.Of course you didn't say it and nor am I saying it. I agree whole heartedly that I'll rather eat my cake and have it too, LOL! :lol:It's just that the fact that I still have to carry my dedicated (point & shoot) camera whenever I go to a wedding or B'Day party or when I travel that puts me off. With a proper phone camera, most of us will not need to carry point-&-shoots anymore :)Pro photogs and enthusiasts will have their DSLRs and the rest of us can use the same mobile device for both the purposes. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janedoe Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 It's just that the fact that I still have to carry my dedicated (point & shoot) camera whenever I go to a wedding or B'Day party or when I travel that puts me off. With a proper phone camera, most of us will not need to carry point-&-shoots anymore :)I wouldn't have agreed with you a few years back, but with the 1020 I can certainly see that we're at most perhaps a couple of tech generations away from realizing this goal of convergence. I would even go so far as to say the 1020 is good enough, but with better software and a little more in terms of hardware tweaks (such as higher fidelity towards the periphery to match the center) we should really end up with mobile photography nerdvana! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts