As smartphones get slimmer and slimmer, so too do the components inside of them. To keep up with the rapid decrease in thickness of smartphones going forward, Samsung has announced that it has started mass production on a new, incredibly small 16-megapixel image sensor with pixels measuring 1 micrometer — an industry first. From Samsung:
Built with 1.0μm pixels, Samsung's new 16Mp image sensor reduces the module's overall height by 20 percent, compared to current 1.12μm-pixel based 16Mp sensor modules. Enabling a module z-height that is less than 5mm, the S5K3P3 offers designers the ability to develop a mobile device with minimal camera protrusion without compromising on resolution.
Samsung says that this new image sensor uses its ISOCELL technology, which helps to increase light sensitivity and produces image quality comparable to previous sensors with 1.12 micrometer pixels. Samsung has moved into mass production on the new sensor, meaning it should start popping up in smartphones later this year.
Source: Samsung
Reader comments
Samsung announces new slimmer 16MP image sensor for thin smartphones
Frankly I don't give a damn about extremely thin phones. Just make the back curved for better ergonomics. You can get away with a somewhat thicker phone around the center and pack in more powerful hardware.
Cynicism Evolved
The world needs thinner phones.
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LG-G2 on Lollipop.
Just stop samsung, stop. People don't want a thinner phone, have you been doing market research?????? They want an adequately thin phone with a freaking microSD card slot and better battery life.
Hmm, seems like those thin phones without SD cards are flying of the shelves.
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Yeah, a huge marketing budget and sheep mentality often bolsters sale profits.
Not saying Samsung makes terrible phones but they're trying too hard to take the Apple approach to things.
Cynicism Evolved
How about this. Make bigger sensors so it takes better pics. And then make bigger batteries so it lasts longer! WHOA OMG!!
Yes, why do they keep shrinking it? We don't need a picture with 16mp in it that full of noises
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I think they will keep the phones thinner so that we can / have to buy their wireless chargers. I think a phone at 8 mm is already thin enough.
If they make everything smaller as they do but keep the phone at 8 mm, the battery would take days under heavy usage.
The Note 4 is 8.5 mm thin and I have never wished or heard anyone with it wishing it was thinner.
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My G4 is 9.8mm thin, and frankly, I think it's just fine.
Exactly
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So the S7 can finally look like the iPhone? Smh Sammy, smh
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The iPhone has nothing to do with this. What are you talking about ?
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Did iPhone pay you to write that comment? Smh PrePixiLove, smh
The fact that the S6 looks a bit like the iPhone 6 in terms of looks from the side?
Personally, Samsung's design language for the current line looks much better than Apple's. Tis just not a phone I would buy feature wise.
Cynicism Evolved
The s6 already look like an iphone. No need to wait till s7.
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How about thinner batteries so you bastards can give us something more than 3 hours of use?
And this camera is not in the S6 why?
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Because the S6 came out 3-4 months ago and this sensor is just now going into production? Seems pretty obvious.
Idk, blame Obama.
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+100
http://i.imgur.com/U1UKNvG.png
common sense
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Hopefully this means that upcoming Samsung phones will not have that annoying camera bump that most of their phones have.
Note 4/T-Mobile/AC App
We can only hope!
The Magenta Network is running strong.
No, they'll make the rest of the phone thinner, and keep the bump. Wouldn't surprise me....
Great a thinner sensor for a thinner phone, the GS6 and GS6 Edge are too effing thin already. Hence, the beyond lousy battery life.
Yep, very right...
Sent from a phone, an awesome phone, my phone.
Sadly, that's where the phone is going...
The Oppo R5 is too damn thin, for example. It can't even fit a headphone jack.
Eventually we will all have a phone the size and thickness of a sheet of paper with a 300mAh battery that we can fold in our pockets with these flexible curved screens that run out of charge in 20 minutes. And I will cut myself on it every time I pull it out and unfold it. It will be a wondrous world.
Who other than Samsung uses their camera sensors? Don't most OEMs use Sony sensors?
Didn't you actually answer your own question?
Sent from a phone, an awesome phone, my phone.
To answer your question, no, all other OEM's use Sony and others. At least that's what Google told me...
Posted from the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, or Surface Pro 3
Even Samsung is using their and Sony's in the S6, most can't tell the difference. But in sure other's use Samsung as well. There are a lot of Androids out there
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