Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures twice as much light by grouping 3x3 pixels

12 February 2020
Samsung calls this "Nonacell". The 108MP sensor it builds for Xiaomi uses Tetracell instead (which groups 2x2 pixels).

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  • Anonymous
  • KSu
  • 13 Feb 2020

Samath N8 808 owner, 13 Feb 2020I'm not sure, if the 3x lossless zoom and 8K recording are ... moreIt won't give you binned video output @8k.
It will be regular 108MP non pixel binned mode.
So low light 8K footage won't be that great.

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    • AnonD-754814
    • uNV
    • 13 Feb 2020

    Samath N8 808 owner, 13 Feb 2020I'm not sure, if the 3x lossless zoom and 8K recording are ... moreThe actual resolution is 108MP. Much higher than 33MP.

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      • AnonD-754814
      • uNV
      • 13 Feb 2020

      Nick Tagataka, 13 Feb 2020The title implies that the amount of light that enters the ... moreWhy don't you read the title again and copy-paste the title here and let's see what everyone else says.
      Yes there is a confusion there. But why not take it to the positive way and take the point what he meant,

        I'm not sure, if the 3x lossless zoom and 8K recording are possible on a 108 to 12MP nonabayer sensor.
        8K needs at least 33MP conventional sensor.
        I suspect there's something wrong.

        I also heard the 64MP telephoto camera does the 8K on S20 series.

          AnonD-754814, 13 Feb 2020 Title is "Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures twice a... moreThe title implies that the amount of light that enters the sensor has been doubled by changing the number of binned pixels from 4 to 9, which is flat out false. The light capturing ability is determined by the surface area of a sensor, not the way RGB colour filters are arranged on a sensor - there's nothing less or more than that.

          "It clearly didn't mention the whole sensor"
          Sorry, but it says: "Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures..". This quite literally suggests that the author is referring to the whole sensor rather than each binned pixel. The correct title should be something like "Galaxy S20 Ultra's sensor has twice as high SNR by grouping 3x3 pixels", and this would make more sense because a larger number of pixels grouped together by hardware binning process does lead to higher SNR (hence improves dynamic range, noise performance, tonality etc.).

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            • AnonD-754814
            • uNV
            • 13 Feb 2020

            Nick Tagataka, 13 Feb 2020"Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures twice as much lig... more Title is "Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures twice as much light by grouping 3x3 pixels".
            It clearly didn't mention the whole sensor. Just 1 binned pixel.
            'Grouping 3*3 pixels' .
            Does it ring any bell ?

              Future Leader, 12 Feb 2020So you did test it by yourself or you're an engineer of 108... morePhysics would already tell you what he already meant. Surface area is still the same no matter how many cells you divide the pixels into.

                Makimaki, 12 Feb 2020But yeah...then why many 550 eur phones dont have water res... moreMy point is that those features is not worth their price hike over those cheaper phones. The additional "features" that you've just said can be had if you buy an old (brand new) flagship, ie Note 9 if you really like IP-rating and better front glass.

                  This reminds me very much with Nokia 808 pureview technology back in 2012

                    AnonD-754814, 12 Feb 2020Man ! You need to understand something here. He didn't mean... more"Galaxy S20 Ultra's 108MP sensor captures twice as much light"
                    This title clearly suggests otherwise. The author of this article shouldn't have written so in the first place if he wanted to avoid confusion, it's just plain wrong.

                      Future Leader, 12 Feb 2020So you did test it by yourself or you're an engineer of 108... moreNo, this is some basic physics. It's how it works and here I'm pointing out that the title is inaccurate.

                        parshakov, 12 Feb 2020108 MP and 3x lossless zoom photos will be half fake. It is... moreCorrect..we have finally reached the limitations of pixel binning on phone image sensors

                          DroidBoye, 12 Feb 2020Pricing-wise, these phones are priced mainly for the postpa... moreBut yeah...then why many 550 eur phones dont have water resistant and latest gorilla glass, handsets for 1000 eur have? When you buy handset for 1000 eur you expect features that 550eur doesnt have...this is what i meant.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • RxE
                            • 12 Feb 2020

                            Everyone that is critizing here sounds like they can build an amazing sensor better than this in their garage lol

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                              • parshakov
                              • 46j
                              • 12 Feb 2020

                              108 MP and 3x lossless zoom photos will be half fake. It is possible to get more detailed shots with their nonacell pixel layout compared to regular 12 MP sensors, but the color fidelity of individual pixels will suffer.

                                Nick Tagataka, 12 Feb 2020No, this sensor captures exactly the same amount of light a... moreSo you did test it by yourself or you're an engineer of 108 mp sensor project of Samsung? xD

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                                  • S Yu
                                  • r7@
                                  • 12 Feb 2020

                                  >It’s able to control the ISO of different groups of pixels, enabling one-shot HDR
                                  Doesn't seem to make sense, IIRC these 0.8μm pixels are largely ISO invariant even with a low bit readout due to a low well capacity, if you compare a properly exposed image shot with such a sensor at high ISO, compared to pushing an image, shot in the exact same circumstance and shutter speed but underexposed by many stops due to being at base ISO, you might get...near a stop more shadow, and a stop more is hardly HDR. What's required for real one-shot HDR is pixel-grade variable shutter speed, not ISO.

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                                    • AnonD-754814
                                    • uNV
                                    • 12 Feb 2020

                                    uk7866, 12 Feb 2020Lol wut? It was officially revealed yesterdayI think what he meant by official is , 'officially available'.
                                    It's not available yet. You can't buy it. You can't review it.
                                    That's kinda similar to unofficial.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • KSu
                                      • 12 Feb 2020

                                      Whackcar, 12 Feb 2020Personally I'm more intrigued by the upcoming Omnivision ca... moreThat Omnivison sensor won't be available for 2020.
                                      Maybe they'll bring it in 2021.

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                                        • .alpha
                                        • ytx
                                        • 12 Feb 2020

                                        Marketing talk. Light gathering is a function of sensor area, not pixel arrangement.

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