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Samsung trademark filing hints at 432MP-450MP camera sensor in the works

By Alan Friedman

Published: Jul 26, 2022, 12:45 PM

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Samsung trademark filing hints at 432MP-450MP camera sensor in the works

Samsung's 200MP ISOCELL HP1 camera sensor is expected to debut on the Moto X30 Pro. The flagship phone will be introduced on August 2nd. Samsung followed that up with another 200MP camera sensor, the ISOCELL HP3. And now, according to a tweet from GalaxyClub (via SamMobile), Samsung has filed for a trademark in South Korea (the firm's home country) for the term "Hexa²Pixel."

Samsung uses an ISOCELL HM3 sensor on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra employing a "Nonapixel RGB Bayer Pattern." The "nonapixel" reference from the company indicates that the images produced by that sensor are subject to 9:1 pixel binning. This is a technology that allows individual pixels to group together and form superpixels that result in brighter images with less noise.

Samsung's new trademark filing hints at a 450MP camera sensor in the works

The 9:1 pixel binning means that the 108MP camera on the Galaxy S22 Ultra can deliver improved 12MP photos (108 divided by 9 equals 12). The 200MP ISOCELL HP1 and ISOCELL HP 3 use a "Tetra²pixel RGB Bayer Pattern" which uses 16:1 Pixel binning (Tetra=4 and 4 squared equals 16). Thus, the trademark request for "Hexa²Pixel" would suggest that Samsung is working on a camera sensor with a pixel binning ratio of 36:1 (Hexa=6 and 6 squared equals 36).

Because Samsung's post binning images are in the range of 12MP to 12.5MP (as we pointed out with the above example of the 108MP sensor on the Galaxy S22 Ultra), we can do a little multiplying (12 times 36 and 12.5 times 36) to deduce that the manufacturer is working on a camera sensor with a resolution somewhere between 432MP to 450MP.

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We should point out that the trademark filing does not mention anything about a camera sensor and while a 450MP sensor will eventually surface in the future, it might not be as soon as the trademark filing suggests.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.