Samsung today announced its latest 108-megapixel (Mp) mobile image sensor, Samsung ISOCELL HM3. With a wide spectrum of advanced sensor technologies, the HM3 can capture sharper and more vivid images in ultra-high resolution with faster auto-focus and extended dynamic range. The ISOCELL HM3 is the culmination of Samsung’s latest sensor technologies that will help deliver premium mobile experiences to today’s smart-device users. The 1/1.33” ISOCELL HM3 with 0.8μm-sized pixels is a new addition to Samsung ISOCELL’s 108Mp product line-up.
The HM3’s pixel layout is especially arranged in three-by-three single color structures suitable for nine-pixel binning. By merging nine neighboring pixels, the 108Mp HM3 mimics a 12Mp image sensor with large 2.4μm-pixels, heightening light sensitivity when taking photographs in low-light environments. With an improved binning hardware IP, the HM3 supports seamless transitions between 108Mp and 12Mp resolutions.
For faster auto-focus, the Samsung HM3 integrates an improved Super PD Plus feature. Super PD Plus adds AF-optimized micro-lenses over the phase detection focusing agents, increasing measurement accuracy of the agents by 50-percent. The enhanced phase detection auto-focusing (PDAF) solution helps to keep moving subjects in sharp focus and delivers optimum results in dark environments.
In mixed light environments, such as at the end of a tunnel, the HM3 adopts Smart ISO Pro, a high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging technology which uses an intra-scene dual conversion gain (iDCG) solution. Smart ISO Pro simultaneously captures a frame in both high and low ISO, then merges them into a single image in 12-bit color depth and with reduced noise.
As Smart ISO Pro does not require multiple exposure shots to create a standard HDR image, it can significantly reduce motion-artifacts. In addition, with a low-noise mode, it improves the light sensitivity by 50-percent to capture brighter and clearer results in low-light environments than its predecessor. Designs of the new sensor have also been optimized to reduce energy usage under preview mode by 6.5-percent, offering added power efficiency to the overall mobile device. Samsung ISOCELL HM3 is currently in mass production.
