which brands are winning the 200 megapixel race

The battle for megapixels (MP)which at one time hypnotized the designers of reflex cameras, occurs again in another segment: that of smart phones. Motorola launched this year the first cell phone with a 200 MP sensor and Xiaomi just presented a similar one. Meanwhile, Samsung is preparing to make the leap with the Galaxy S23.

The evolution of digital photography was so rapid that, in the space of a few years, it went from just a rear lens to terminals with professional aspirations. Now, the distinctive requirement is 200 MPas they were until recently the 108 MP resolution.

For the most part, the phones that wear them are equipped with pixel binning technology, which allows the sensors to capture more light, get sharper pictures and with less noise, in low light conditions.

Even Applewhich had turned its back on these high-resolution sensors, was played for a 48-megapixel one that also groups pixels in the newly launched iPhone 14 Pro Maxits top of the range.

What are the 200 megapixels in cell phone cameras for?



Phones with 200 MP allow spotlights with low light. (Photo: Motorola)

The main advantage of adding so many points in an image is to improve the sensitivity when the environment is low and add more detail to the image. All this, without losing quality.

To improve the final result, large photos can be cropped to optimize the frame and also, take advantage of the digital zoom to approach objects.

Because higher resolutions require more bandwidth, lower resolutions can be achieved at higher frame rates. Which allows you to take a photo of 200 MP at 8 frames per second (FPS), 50 MP at 30 FPS or 12.5 MP at 120 FPS, with the help of pixel binning.

What no manufacturer has yet been able to prove is that virtual pixel technology achieves the highest quality images. Nor that these sensors are capable of focusing light sharply enough to resolve 200MP in such a small area.

Added to this is that the photos take up more space on the storage unit. While one in automatic mode does not exceed 3 MB, the 50 MP about 25 MB, while the of 200 MP does not drop below 60 MB.

Following, the cell phones with the best cameras of the planet.

Moto Edge 30 Ultra

The Moto Edge 30 Ultra retails for $219,999.


The Moto Edge 30 Ultra retails for $219,999.

In a very well equipped team in terms of processor, design and screen. Although the 200 megapixels of the main camera, with the tremendous 1/1.22 sensor, stand out with the naked eye.

The equipment, when shooting automatically, does not use all the pixels. Instead, turn to the “binning technology”, where four dots combine to form a larger pixel that draws in more light and produces better images.

The rear module, stepped in three phases, is divided into two segments: the largest fraction is occupied by the main camera and the other is shared by the flash and the two secondary lenses.

The main one is seconded by a 50 MP wide-angle and 112-degree aperture, with a 12-megapixel macro and telephoto option, with 2x optical zoom. The front is 60 megapixels.

Another highlight detail is that it incorporates a fast charge (comes with TurboPower) of 125 watts. Which means that its 4610 mAh battery, touches 50% in 9 minutes. It also has 50-watt wireless charging.

To ratify its ambition among the advanced series, it is covered with a 6.67-inch OLED screen, with a 144 Hz refresh rate and a fingerprint sensor hidden behind the screen.

The large OLED panel has curved edges and this side cutout can be used to receive notifications. The world presentation took place in Argentina and its price is 219.999 pesos.

Xiaomi 12T Pro

The new Xiaomi 12T Pro is not yet sold in Argentina.


The new Xiaomi 12T Pro is not yet sold in Argentina.

A day before the launch, Lei Jun, the company’s CEO, published a series of tweets where he commented on the advantages that the 200 MP sensor could bring to the terminal.

One of the big drawbacks of photos with such a large amount of information, according to Lei, is that phones take too long to process them. To cut times, the firm opted for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor.

To this is added a system that rescales the shot in real time. Thus, the 200 MP will automatically become a photograph with a lower resolution, but with a greater amount of detail, being able to make a greater number of captures in less time.

Xiaomi ProFocus technology exploits the speed of the SOC and the enormous resolution of the sensor to keep moving objects in focus.

Although the sensor used by Xiaomi -the ISOCELL HP1, provided by Samsung- is the same as the Motorola, the software configuration, combined with the AI ​​of each brand, achieves similar results, although with a different approach.

The new Xiaomi 12T Pro.


The new Xiaomi 12T Pro.

The camera has a 2x zoom, which, in combination with the large sensor size of 1/1.22, which is not as large as the Xiaomi 12S Ultra although it is similar to the iPhone 14 Pro, which has 1/1 .28 inches.

Its AMOLED screen is 6.67 inches, with Full HD + resolution and a refresh rate of up to 120 hertz. It has a small hole in the top center, where it houses the 20-megapixel front camera. Although his arrival in Argentina is expected, there is no date yet.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Although the sensors used by its immediate competitors were created by the South Korean firm, Samsung has not yet released the ISOCELL HP1/3 in any of its terminals.

In this sense, the speculations of the Ice Universe leaker indicate that the company’s flagship will occupy a 200 MP sensor different from the ISOCELL HP1/3, with 0.6 µm pixels, a 1/1.3” sensor and an f/1.7 aperture.

This sensor will be slightly larger than the one in the iPhone 14 Pro and smaller than other sensors coming out for Android in the course of 2023.

The S23 Ultra’s panel is expected to be brighter. Currently, the S22 Ultra has peaks of 1,750 nits, far from the 2,000 nits of the iPhone 14 Pro. If you want to rival both this phone and future iPhone 15s, you will need to surpass the current mark.

Another rumor talks about the dismissal of its high-end Exynos processors, replaced by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, hopefully manufactured under TSMC’s 4-nanometer process, to have greater guarantees on thermal efficiency.

From the aesthetic there will be few changes. The Galaxy S23 may show a slight change in its curvature. Instead of having the rounded edges of the S22, the new design will take on a squarer look that reduces the curvature of the glass, at least according to the Ice Universe leak.

iPhone 14 Pro Max

The iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple's top of the range.  Photo Bloomberg


The iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple’s top of the range. Photo Bloomberg

Apple’s technical difference with previous equipment is very narrow. iPhone is once again positioned with the 14 Pro Max as the photographic reference. In low light conditions it took a big leap over the previous generation of mobiles.

Its main sensor is 48 megapixels. Until now the maximum was 12 megapixels. For normal photos, what the system does is group the pixels by four – the count is 48 divided by 4, which gives 12– for brighter photos.

The company claims that they are now able to collect triple light in poorly lit spaces. The opening of the main camera has been reduced considerably, so Apple must be pretty sure that its camera is now brighter.

The new sensor allowed to have four focal lengths even though the mobile only has three lenses. For the 2X “optical” zoom, it uses information from the central part of the 48-megapixel sensor, interpolating and merging it to obtain a lower resolution photo, but with greater detail.

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