Samsung has announced a 600-megapixel image sensor

     Yongin Park, executive vice president of Samsung LSI business, said in a statement on the official website that Samsung is ready to develop 600 million pixel (600MP) sensor products, directly breaking the limit of the human eye (about 500 million pixels). Yongin said that our eyes can distinguish around 500 million pixels of resolution, compared to the 40 million pixels provided by most DSLR cameras today, and the 12 million pixels of flagship smartphones, we have a long way to go to match human perception. It may seem easy to simply splice as many pixels as possible into the sensor, but this makes the image sensor huge and takes up the entire area of the device. In order to fit millions of pixels into today's smartphones, the pixels inevitably have to shrink to make the sensor as compact as possible. Due to the reduction of the area of each pixel receiving light information, the image will be blurred or dim. There needs to be a balance between the number of pixels in the sensor and the size of the pixel, which requires solid technical capabilities.

     Samsung LSI also plans to create sensors that can capture light waves beyond the visible light of the human eye. Yongin revealed that most current cameras can only capture light at wavelengths of 450 to 750nm that are visible to the human eye. Similarly, sensors that can detect wavelengths of light beyond this range are very rare, but their applications could benefit in a wide range of fields. For example, image sensors equipped with ultraviolet light sensing can diagnose skin cancer by capturing pictures that show the different colors of healthy and cancerous cells. Infrared image sensors can also be used for quality control in agriculture and other industries. In the future, we may even have sensors that can see microbes that are invisible to the naked eye.

     Yongin revealed that Samsung is not only developing image sensors, but also working on other types of sensors, such as sensors that can record smells or tastes, or even surpass human senses, and will soon become an integral part of our daily lives, and we are excited about the potential of this sensor, Yongin said. Because it can make the invisible visible and help people by going beyond our own sensory capabilities.

     To date, the main application area for image sensors has been the smartphone sector, but it is expected to soon expand to other rapidly emerging areas such as self-driving cars, the Internet of Things and drones, Yongin said. Samsung is proud to be leading the trend for small pixel, high-resolution sensors that will continue into 2020 and beyond, with a comprehensive portfolio that meets the diverse needs of device manufacturers and prepares for the next wave of technological innovation. Through continuous innovation, we are determined to open up endless possibilities in pixel technology, and it is even possible to provide image sensors that are finer than the human eye.