Samsung Galaxy S30 camera could 'capture more detail than the human eye'

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The Samsung Galaxy S30's camera might be an enormous 600MP sensor

Samsung Galaxy S30 camera could 'capture more detail than the human eye'
(Image credit: Future)

The Samsung Galaxy S30 may be the first phone to benefit from Samsung's next enormous camera sensor. The company is aiming for a 600MP shooter, which it claims is a higher resolution than the 500MP equivalent resolution of the human eye.

Noted leaker Ice Universe tweeted this news out, seemingly sourced from a post on Samsung's press site written by Yongin Park, EVP and head of the Sensor Business Team at System LSI Business. System LSI Business is a part of Samsung's semiconductor manufacturing operation, which produces products like its HMX camera sensors and Exynos processor line. 

Park's post explains the ways in which Samsung has and will be improving its image sensors. This includes existing technology such as "Nonacell," which can combine nine pixels into one larger pixel to improve an image's brightness at the expense of detail. He also mentions sensors that can allegedly "register smells or tastes."

Samsung debuted two large camera sensors on the Samsung Galaxy S20 series: the 64MP telephoto camera on the standard Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy S20 Plus, and the larger 108MP main sensor on the Galaxy S20 Ultra. 

Samsung is finishing development of a 150MP camera, and is rumored to be currently working on a 256MP successor. We may see either of these on the Galaxy S30 if this proposed 600MP sensor takes too long to develop.

As many replies to this tweet were quick to point out (such as this one from Front Page Tech's Jon Prosser), Samsung may have a resolution advantage over its rivals, but that's just one part of the picture. The poor autofocusing found on some Samsung cameras makes it harder to make the most of these sensors than it is on far smaller cameras, such as the 12MP sensors used by the iPhone 11 Pro and Google Pixel 4. Hopefully Samsung has a solution to maintain quality performance while upping the megapixel count.

We're expecting the Samsung Galaxy S30 to arrive in February 2021. It's rumored to include a camera larger than the S20 Ultra's main sensor, and potentially Samsung's first under-display selfie camera. 

Before that, we're likely going to see the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 by the end of summer 2020, both using camera and display technology from the S20 series to try and corner their respective phablet and foldable categories.

Richard Priday
Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.