More pixels. Epic details: How ISOCELL Has Evolved to Bring Ultra-high Resolution to Mobile Photography

The Power of Small Pixel Technology Our memories now live on in our smartphones as photos, and meeting demand for high resolution has never been more important. However, smartphones have limited space, and by nature, a small device requires the pixels that make up the image sensor behind every picture to be just that – small. Packing many small pixels into every image senor to ensure high quality once led to color crosstalk, which occurs when light leaks into adjacent pixels, degrading the definition of the images. But Samsung is addressing this head on with its ISOCELL pixel technology. Our cutting-edge technology enables smartphones to produce ultra-high quality photos, even in dark environments.

Advancements of ISOCELL Pixel Technology: Improving Image Quality with More Light Absorption When it comes to high-quality photos, processing light is one of the most important pieces of the equation. Samsung’s ISOCELL pixel technology was first introduced in 2013 to process and absorb more light than its conventional BSI pixels. In fact, ISOCELL technology reduced color crosstalk between pixels by about 30% and increased full well capacity where each pixel stores 30% more light. ¹

Samsung continued to refine the technology, and to improve image quality even further, our new ISOCELL technology replaced the metal grid between color filters with a more reflective material. This innovation helps reduce optical loss and increase light sensitivity. Enhancing light sensitivity enables the smaller pixels in the sensor to absorb more light and vivid photos with even more details and less noise result. To decrease optical loss in even smaller pixels, we adopted a new merged grid array which removed the grid between same colored color filters, thus increasing light-absorbing area in each pixel. Our new ISOCELL technology also introduced a new material for thin color filters to optimize the focus of ultra-fine pixels. Recently, we upgraded light sensitivity by improving the structure of photodiodes. Our innovations in small pixel technology allow ISOCELL to fully harness the power of micro-pixels.

Pixel Binning Technology: Experience Crisp Photos Even in Dark Conditions Because of the size limitation of small pixels, the light absorbed by such small pixels could be less. This presents a significant challenge when it comes to producing high-quality photos, especially in dark settings. Samsung introduced pixel binning technology, which allows small pixels to mimic large sized pixels by combining some neighboring pixels into one. Samsung’s Tetrapixel, Nonapixel, and Tetra² pixel technology merge four, nine, and sixteen pixels, respectively, to allow our smartphones to produce ultra-high quality photos no matter the lighting conditions.

For example, when you take a picture in a dark environment, the Tetra² pixel technology combines 16 pixels into a single large pixel to capture more light for brighter images. In contrast, when it’s bright, the re-mosaic algorithm rearranges the pixel array for the high image resolution, resulting in crisp, detailed images.

Among all the incredible capabilities of our smartphones, the ability to meet increasing demand for high-resolution photos is one of the most remarkable. Experience crisp, detailed photos with small, but powerful pixels in our ISOCELL mobile image sensors. _{1) Compared to the same-sized BSI pixels * All product specifications reflect internal test results and are subject to variations by user’s system configuration. Actual performance may vary depending on use conditions and environment. *Each of ISOCELL image sensor product may apply different phase of ISOCELL technology.}