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Posts Tagged ‘Samsung’

Samsung patents zoom camera in an S-Pen stylus

07 Feb

Samsung has recently been granted a camera-related patent, but not for technology used in the camera of a smartphone. Instead the patent, which was originally filed back in February of 2017, is for an S-Pen stylus with a built-in zoom camera.

The document is titled ‘Electronic pen device having optical zoom’ and describes an S-Pen that comes with an optical system embedded towards the upper end. Four lens elements are aligned in front of an image sensor. The optical system is connected to a communications module which transmits the captured image data back to the host device. There is also a control key which could adjust the zoom factor or trigger other functions.

Image: Patently Mobile

In the technical drawing above you can see the the four main components of the system: optical system, image sensor, control key, and controller. The image also suggests the camera S-Pen could come with a future Galaxy Note smartphone but the patent text says the pen could also be used with laptops and computer displays.

As usual there is no way of knowing if or when the technology will make it into a production device but the capability to take zoom pictures with your S-Pen while leaving the device in your pocket seems like an interesting idea.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung starts production of world’s first 1TB eUFS storage module for mobile devices

30 Jan

Samsung announced it has started mass-producing the world’s first 1TB embedded Universal Flash Storage 2.1 (eUFS) module for mobile devices. Given we are now pretty close to the launch of the new Galaxy S10 flagship series, it looks like there is a chance we might see a 1TB option for at least one of the S10 devices.

Samsung says the new module is the same size as the 512GB variant in the Galaxy Note 9. The increase in density has been made possible using V-NAND technology that vertically stacks NAND cells in order to maximize density and efficiency.

According to Samsung the new module offers sequential read speeds of up to 1000MBps and write speeds of 260MBps, enough for the continuous recording of high-speed video at 960fps. In terms of both storage capacity and transfer speeds the new module should also make an interesting combination with Samsung’s new 8K-capable Exynos chipset.

According to Cheol Choi, Samsung’s executive vice president of Memory Sales & Marketing, “the 1TB eUFS is expected to play a critical role in bringing a more notebook-like user experience to the next generation of mobile devices.”

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung to acquire smartphone camera tech company CorePhotonics

29 Jan

According to sources familiar with the matter, Korean smartphone maker Samsung is close to acquiring Israel-based technology company CorePhotonics. The deal could be worth $ 150 million.

CorePhotonics isn’t a company end consumers are too familiar with, but it has been one of the pioneers of the multi-camera trend in smartphones. Most notably it was the company behind OPPO’s 5x zoom module and was likely also involved in the creation of OPPO’s latest 10x zoom camera. It’s unknown at this point what the acquisition would mean for the relationship with OPPO.

The CorePhotonics name also appeared in the news when the company filed several law suits against Apple for patent infringement. The legal dispute is still ongoing.

Zoom reach is one of the very few areas where smartphone cameras still can’t keep up with stand-alone compact cameras and is likely going to be an important differentiator for brands when launching the next generations of smartphones. In this context the acquisition makes a lot of sense for a manufacturer like Samsung.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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New Samsung Exynos chipset supports 8K video, up to five camera modules

26 Jan

Samsung announced its Exynos 9820 chipset, which will likely power the company’s 2019 flagship smartphones, including the Galaxy S10, late last year. Now Samsung has unveiled additional detail on the new processor in a press release.

Of course, it’s the new chipset’s imaging capabilities of interest and on paper it looks like the Exynos 9820 won’t disappoint. It will be able to manage up to five camera modules. It’s already known at least one version of the Galaxy S10 will likely come with a triple-camera on the back. This leaves enough processing power for a front dual-camera as well.

In addition devices equipped with the chipset will be able to record 8K video using a 10-bit HEVC codec. This doesn’t necessarily mean such high-res video will be standard on the Galaxy S10 at launch, but it’s good to know any Exynos 9820-equipped devices will be future-proof in terms of video and an 8K mode could possibly be activated via firmware update.

On the display side of things the new chipset can manage 4K displays with HDR10+ and dynamic tone mapping.

Non-imaging highlights include a tri-cluster setup with a mix of Samsung custom cores and ARM designs, a Mali-G76 12-core design that is 40% faster than last year’s GPU, a neural processing unit (NPU) that is seven times faster than the previous version and a 8nm LPP process, which requires 10% less power than the 10nm LPP process from last year.

More detail can be found on the Samsung website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung launches 1/3.4″ 20MP sensor for use in smartphone front cameras and tele modules

23 Jan

Smartphone camera technology is moving faster than ever and in recent times we have seen two new developments on a variety of mid-range and high-end devices. More and more rear cameras come with secondary modules with longer focal lengths, usually a 2 or 3x zoom factor when compared to the primary shooter. At the front the latest trend are “hole punch” cameras that are pretty much hidden underneath the display and only peek through a tiny hole.

Both these trends require small sensors to enable designers and engineers to maintain the slim form factors of current premium devices. Samsung has today launched its new ISOCELL Slim 3T2 20MP 1/3.4″ sensor which comes with a 0.8?m pixel pitch and is Samsung’s smallest 20MP sensor, making it ideal for such applications.

‘The ISOCELL Slim 3T2 is our smallest and most versatile 20Mp image sensor that helps mobile device manufacturers bring differentiated consumer value not only in camera performance but also in features including hardware design,” said Jinhyun Kwon, vice president of System LSI sensor marketing at Samsung Electronics. “As the demand for advanced imaging capabilities in mobile devices continue to grow, we will keep pushing the limits in image sensor technologies for richer user experiences.’

In addition to tiny dimensions the new sensor offers, when used in front facing cameras, Samsung’s Tetracell technology, which merges four pixels to work as one for brighter exposures and less noise in low light conditions. Samsung claims Tetracell increases the color filter array’s light sensitivity to that of a 1.6?m-pixel image sensor at 5MP resolution.

For applications in rear cameras, for example in a tele-module, the sensor uses an RGB color filter array instead of Tetracell. Samsung says the sensor’s small dimensions reduce the height of the tele-camera module by around seven percent when compared to the company’s current 1/3-inch 20MP imagers. Compared to the existing 13MP sensor with the same module height, the 3T2 offers, thanks to the higher pixel count, better performance when digital zoom is thrown into the mix.

The Samsung ISOCELL Slim 3T2 is expected to be in mass production in the first quarter of this year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung and Huawei introduce the ‘hole-punch’ front camera in their latest smartphones

12 Dec

Smartphone manufacturers are facing a dilemma these days. Consumers want a display that covers as much of the front of the device and has bezels that are as thin as possible. On the other hand some components, for example the front camera, proximity and light sensors or the earpiece have to be placed onto the front of the device as well to work efficiently, taking away some of the available real estate from the display.

This has resulted in the much-dreaded display-“notch” as it was first popularized by the iPhone X and since then has appeared on most other high-end phones as well.

Apple iPhone XR with display notch

Samsung and Huawei are now going down a different route, however, with their new A8s and Honor View20 models, respectively. Both new smartphones feature a so-called ‘hole-punch’ front camera which is designed to be less obtrusive than a ‘notch.’

In this design the camera is hidden behind the display which comes with a small circular hole for the lens to peek through. It’s worth noting however, that unlike many current high-end models neither the A8s nor the View20 come with any face recognition features that would require additional sensors at the front. Both new devices are placed in the mid-range bracket of the market which makes them more suitable for the new design.

Samsung Galaxy A8s with “hole-punch” front camera

The View20’s main camera also comes with a promising specification. The camera features the same 1/2″ Sony sensor with 48MP resolution that we are also expecting to see in an upcoming Xiaomi device. The sensor’s high pixel count is used for high-quality digital zooming and computational frame-stacking methods, though, so don’t expect any medium-format resolution out of your smartphone any time soon.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung Malaysia caught using DSLR image to advertise Galaxy A8 Star ‘Portrait Mode’ feature

04 Dec

Samsung has again been caught using an image captured with a DSLR to advertise its mobile camera capabilities. The discovery was recently detailed on DIY Photography by writer and photographer Dunja Djudjic, who took the image and made it available for sale on EyeEm.

After receiving an alert that the image had been sold, Djudjic used a reverse image search and found the image on Samsung Malaysia’s website, where it features a different background and is used to advertise the Galaxy A8 Star’s Portrait Mode feature.

Samsung Malaysia displays two iterations of the image on its website, one with a sharp background replacing the original, another with a blurred background supposedly demonstrating the handset’s Portrait Mode capabilities.

Djudjic contacted EyeEm in an attempt to confirm whether Samsung purchased the image, but the company hadn’t yet received the sales data and was unable to confirm the buyer. Getty, which is partnered with EyeEm, was also contacted to determine whether the sale took place through its platform, but didn’t respond to the inquiry.

Djudjic attempted to contact Samsung Malaysia and Samsung Global, but was unable to get a response about the image’s use.

This isn’t the first time Samsung has been caught passing off stock images to advertise its mobile camera capabilities. In August, Samsung Brazil’s Twitter account tweeted two stock images advertising its Galaxy A8 camera capabilities, but later removed them after being called out.

Competitor Huawei was also previously caught using images captured with a DSLR to advertise its mobile camera capabilities. In 2016, the company used an image captured with a Canon 5D Mark III to advertise its P9 smartphone’s camera. Later in August 2018, the company published a video with images seemingly taken by the nova 3 and nova 3i, but that were later revealed to have been captured with a Canon DSLR.

In addition to EyeEm, Djudjic’s work can be found on Flickr and Behance.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung announces two new 1/2-inch sensors likely destined for future Galaxy devices

31 Oct

Recent flagship smartphones have shown the newest arms race in the world of mobile photography is how many lenses you can stick on a device, but Samsung isn’t giving up on the megapixels yet. Samsung has announced a new pair of half-inch image sensors destined for future smartphones: the 48-megapixel GM1 and 32-megapixel GD1.

Both the 48MP ISOCELL Bright GM1 and 32MP ISOCELL Bright GD1 have 0.8?m pixels and are backside illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensors that use Samsung’s latest pixel isolation technology, nicknamed ISOCELL Plus. They also use Samsung’s Tetracell technology, which merges four pixels together to create a single pixel that’s more effective in low-light environments. Samsung claims “the GM1 and GD1 can deliver light sensitivity equivalent to that of a 1.6?m-pixel image sensor at 12MP and 8MP resolution, respectively.”

Both sensors support gyro-based electronic image stabilization and the 32MP GD1 supports real-time HDR image capture.

Samsung expects the ISOCELL Bright GM1 and GD1 to be in mass production by the end of 2018, which would likely pave the way for an appearance in future Samsung Galaxy devices in 2019.

Samsung Introduces Two New 0.8?m ISOCELL Image Sensors to the Smartphone Market

Ultra-small pixel size combined with ISOCELL Plus and Tetracell technologies enhance sharpness and detail in smartphone photos

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced two new 0.8-micrometer (?m) pixel image sensors – the 48-megapixel (Mp) Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 and the 32Mp ISOCELL Bright GD1.

“Demand for ultra-small, high-resolution image sensors are growing as smartphones evolve to deliver new and more exciting camera experiences for users,” said Ben K. Hur, vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “With the introduction of our cutting-edge 0.8?m-pixel Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 and GD1 image sensors, we are committed to continue driving innovation in image sensor technologies.”

As cameras are becoming a key distinguishing feature in today’s mobile devices, smartphone makers are faced with the challenge to fit multiple cameras into the sleek designs of their latest flagships. At a reduced pixel size, the new sensors provide greater design flexibility, enabling camera module manufacturers to build smaller modules or pack more pixels into existing designs, and consequently allowing smartphone makers to maximize space utilization in slim, bezel-less smartphones.

The GM1 and the GD1 sensors are based on the company’s latest pixel isolation technology – the ISOCELL Plus* – which optimizes performance especially for smaller-dimension pixels, making them the ideal solution for today’s super-resolution cameras. In addition, thanks to Tetracell technology, where four pixels are merged to work as one to increase light sensitivity, the GM1 and GD1 can deliver light sensitivity equivalent to that of a 1.6?m-pixel image sensor at 12Mp and 8Mp resolution, respectively. The sensors also support Gyro-based electronic image stabilization (EIS) for fast and accurate image capture.

A real-time high dynamic range (HDR) feature is added to the GD1 to deliver more balanced exposure, richer color and detail when filming selfie-videos or streaming live video content even in low-light, high-contrast environments.

The Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 and GD1 are expected to be in mass production in the fourth quarter of this year.

*Samsung first announced its ISOCELL technology in 2013, which reduces color-cross talk between pixels by placing a physical barrier, allowing small-sized pixels to achieve higher color fidelity. Based on this technology, Samsung introduced the industry’s first 1.0um-pixel image sensor in 2015 and 0.9-pixel sensor in 2017. In June 2018, Samsung introduced an upgraded pixel isolation technology, the ISOCELL Plus.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The Samsung Galaxy A9 is the first quad-cam smartphone

12 Oct

It looked like Lenovo was going to be the first smartphone manufacturer to launch a quad-camera model but Samsung has outpaced its rival on the final straight. Today, the Korean company launched the Galaxy A9, the world’s first smartphone with a quad-camera setup.

The device’s main camera offers 24MP resolution and F1.7 aperture. There is a 2x 10MP tele with F2.4 aperture and an 8MP super-wide-angle with 120 degree field-of-view and F2.4 aperture. The fourth camera is a 5MP depth sensor used to create a simulated bokeh effect.

There is no mention of optical image stabilization but the phone features AI-powered scene recognition for optimized exposure and other image parameters. The front camera comes with a 24MP resolution and F2 aperture.

Images can be composed and viewed on a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED screen with 1,080 x 2,220 pixel resolution and stored on 128GB of internal memory or microSD card. The Android 8.0 OS is powered by an octa-core processor and 6 or 8GB of RAM.

Power is provided by a 3,800mAh battery and a fingerprint reader is on board as well. The new phone will be available in a range of colors from November and set you back $ 695 (599 EUR) in the Euro Zone. Unfortunately no US pricing information has been released yet.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung Galaxy S10 to come with ultra-wide-angle, regular and tele-cameras

04 Oct

Huawei started the trend only a few months ago with the P20 Pro, but it seems as though triple-camera setups on smartphones will be the norm in the very near future. We learned recently that LG’s upcoming flagship V40 ThinQ will come with both an ultra-wide-angle and a tele-camera next to its “standard” lens.

Now it appears Samsung will be the next major manufacturer to follow suit. We have heard rumors about a Galaxy S10 triple-cam before but a newly leaked specs table has revealed what’s suspected to be the complete camera specification.

The main camera looks unchanged from the Galaxy S9+, with a 12MP sensor (1.4µm pixels) and Samsung’s F1.5 / F2.4 dual aperture. The tele-camera comes with a slightly increased pixel count (13MP vs 12Mp on the S9+) but retains the F2.4 aperture and 1.0µm pixel size. Both lenses are optically stabilized.

The ultra wide camera is completely new, however, and according to the leak will offer a 123° field of view and feature a 16MP sensor and F1.9 aperture. “Beyond” is Samsung’s internal code name for the S10 of which three models are expected to be announced in the first quarter 2019. The camera specification above is likely reserved for the top-end model.

The S10 won’t be Samsung’s first triple-camera, however. The Korean manufacturer has already released the Galaxy A7. The mid-ranger has to make do without a tele-camera, though, and instead reserves one of its camera for depth-sensing for a simulated bokeh-effect.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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