Samsung Unveils 108-Megapixel ISOCELL Bright HM1 Sensor With Nonacell Technology

Samsung has launched a new 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor – the ISOCELL Bright HM1. It is claimed to be the world's first 108-megapixel camera sensor to employ the Nonacell 9-in-1 pixel technology to deliver brighter 12-megapixel shots.

Compared to the first-gen 108-megapixel ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor, the ISOCELL Bright HM1 employs the Nonacell RGB Bayer pattern colour filter, allows 240fps video capture at 1080p, brings higher analog gain at x48, and supports RAW10 and RAW8 output formats as well. Also, the ISOCELL Bright HM1 is the sensor that has made its way to the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

The ISOCELL Bright HM1 has 0.8micron pixels and 1/1.33-inch sensor size. With support from the in-house ISOCELL Plus technology, the new sensor can combine nine adjacent pixels in a 3x3 array to perform 9-in-1 pixel binning, creating a larger pixel of 2.4micron size for more effective light absorption.

The ISOCELL Plus technology is also said to reduce pixel crosstalk, optical loss, and light reflection, all the while improving colour fidelity and light sensitivity. On the other hand, Samsung's older ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor has a quad Bayer array and utilises the Tetracell technology.

The ISOCELL Bright HM1 also takes advantage of the Smart-ISO technology to intelligently select the most appropriate native ISO for producing the best results in various lighting conditions. It has an effective resolution of 12,000x9,000 pixels, which is slightly lower than the 12,032x9,024 pixels resolution of the ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor.

However, the new sensor bumps up the support for 1080p slow-mo video capture to 240fps, up from the 148fps cap imposed by the ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor. The ISOCELL Bright HM1 also brings RAW8 support as well as 3D HDR (wide dynamic range) support.

February 12, 2020