Samsung has announced the ISOCELL Slim 3T2, a 20MP camera sensor that’s made for punch-hole displays.
As the smartphones are becoming a luxury by every passing day, manufacturers are looking for ways to design their smartphones that catches the eye. There have been various experiments to make the smartphone as bezel-less as possible in order to render them a shiny look. Some manufacturers like Apple opted for the notch which was followed by a myriad of other brands. However, some brands like Oppo and Vivo, in order to distinguish themselves from Apple, went a little further and added a mechanical pop-up camera to their device. Nevertheless, this race is still far from ending as Samsung is set to release its Galaxy S10-lineup with a punch-hole camera display: a display with literally a hole in it to accommodate the front camera.
Punch-hole displays could be the next big thing in the smartphone market and sooner rather than later we might find a hole in our device that is placed there intentionally.
Notwithstanding, a smaller cut out also means the camera has to be smaller in size in order to fit in the hole. That is where Samsung has come up with a solution.
“In order to support smartphones with the latest display features such as the ‘hole-in display’ or ‘notch design,’ front-facing image sensors need to minimize their size while being able to capture high-quality images. The 1/3.4-inch 3T2 snugly fits into a tiny module making more space for the display,” the South Korean company noted in a press release.
Samsung, in the production of the ISOCELL Slim 3T2, seems to be inspired with its own GM1 sensor that the company has provided for the recently released Redmi Note 7. Both the GM1 sensor and the ISOCELL Slim 3T2 sensor are using the same 0.8-micron pixel size. Both the sensors use the pixel-binning technology in order to get the most out of the sensor. This process essentially combines the data from four pixels into one pixel, delivering better quality pictures at the expense of the resolution.
Samsung also says that this sensor could be used as a telephoto rear camera, claiming it is able to retain “60 percent higher effective resolution at 10x digital zoom” compared to a similarly sized 13-megapixel sensor.
The Korean brand says the ISOCELL Slim 3T2 will go in mass production in the first quarter of the year. So users shouldn’t have to wait too long to see phones with this technology.
There are chances we might see this sensor in the upcoming S10-lineup from the company, however, according to Samsung the sensor is made for “today’s sleekest mid-range smartphones.”
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