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Posts Tagged ‘Samsung’s’

Samsung’s new ISOCELL Dual module will bring dual-cameras to budget smartphones

08 Feb

Dual-camera setups that allow for better zooming and a background-blurring fake bokeh effect have become pretty much a standard feature on flagship smartphones; however, they are still far less common on cheaper ‘budget’ devices. That’s all about to change. The image sensor division of device maker Samsung just launched the new ISOCELL Dual camera module, which was specifically designed for use in budget devices.

The new module comes with a built-in set of algorithms and functions and can be configured two ways: either for low-light performance by combining image data from two sensor, or to provide a bokeh effect feature. For the low-light setup, Samsung couples two 8MP sensors; for the bokeh effect, the module is assembled with a 13MP and 5MP image sensor combination.

Samsung will likely use the module in its own entry-level devices but, like it does with its sensors, RAM modules and other components, the company is also offering the technology to other OEMs. This will allow smaller companies to integrate dual-cam technology into their products without the need for large R&D budgets and software optimization.

We should see the first production smartphones using the ISOCELL Dual module sometime later this year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung’s new smartphone sensors can shoot 480fps in Full HD

22 Jan

Samsung has just announced a new mobile image sensor that may just reveal what’s in store for the rumored Galaxy S9 smartphone—specifically in the slow-motion capture department.

Announced earlier today, Samsung’s new ISOCELL Fast imager chips feature a 3-stack Fast Readout design that Samsung claims will shoot Full HD 1080p video at a whopping 480fps. That’s not quite as fast as the eye-watering 960fps in Sony’s high-end Xperia models, but the Sony mode can only capture for a fracture of a second—Samsung’s super-slow-motion could potentially offer longer capture times.

According to Samsung’s product page, the ISOCELL fast sensors also come with advanced autofocus technologies—such as Dual-Pixel or Super-PD—built into the chip, allowing for very fast focusing in all light conditions. ISOCELL Fast sensors with the aforementioned technologies are currently available with 12 and 16MP resolutions and sizes ranging from 1/2.8″ to 1/2.56″.

As usual, there is no way of knowing for certain if either of these sensor variants will make it into the Galaxy S9, but it’s safe to assume we’ll see the new 480fps Full HD mode in a Samsung mobile device in the near future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung’s built-in storage chips might make microSD slots a thing of the past

07 Dec

MicroSD storage expansion slots are a feature that is slowly but surely disappearing from high-end smartphones, with “cloud-focused” smartphone manufacturers such as Google or Apple leading the pack. However, at least Samsung users can stop worrying about a lack of expandable storage in the near future, because the built-in storage in their devices should soon be large enough to never need a microSD card in the first place.

The Korean electronics giant has officially started mass production of the world’s first 512GB embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS). This means Samsung’s 2018 flagship smartphones may have double the storage of this year’s equivalents.

Users will be able to store up to 130 10-minute video clips at UHD resolution on these new chips, and read & write speeds have been improved as well, reaching 860MB per second and 255MB per second respectively. That is fast enough to transfer a 5GB video clip to an SSD in around six seconds. It is also eight times faster than a standard microSD card, making the internal storage solution much more suitable to anyone who requires fast data transfer.

Samsung says it is planning to steadily increase production volume to meet increasing demand for its high-capacity mobile storage, so hopefully we’ll see the big chips coming to other manufacturers very soon as well.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung’s new W2018 flip phone features a variable aperture F1.5-F2.4 lens

02 Dec

Samsung just announced something that looks like it belongs in the mid-2000s… but looks can be deceiving. Meet Samsung’s new flip phone: the W2018. Announced earlier today at an event in Xiamen, China, the followup to the W2017 is an Android-powered flip phone that boasts smartphone-caliber specs. In fact, the 12-megapixel rear camera is nearly identical to the one found in the Galaxy S8, featuring dual pixel autofocus, optical image stabilization and 1.4?m pixels.

It does differ in one very interesting way though.

Not only does the W2018 boast an F1.5 aperture—the brightest you’ll find on a phone—that aperture is actually variable, switching between F1.5 and F2.4 when it senses there’s enough light around. In this way, the phone automatically captures as much of the background as possible.

You can see the trick in this close-up video uploaded to Weibo by Jason Wang:

Rumors have been floating around that the Galaxy S9 will feature a variable aperture F1.5 lens; as you might expect, the appearance of the selfsame lens in another Samsung phone makes us pretty confident that will, indeed, be the case. As to whether or not you ever really need to ‘stop down’ a smartphone camera lens… that’s another topic entirely.

Like the W2017 before it, this phone will first be released in China, comes with a bunch of “VIP” perks like free tech support, and will probably cost upwards of $ 3,000… no, we didn’t add another zero.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Aloha! We go shooting with Samsung’s new NX500

17 Mar

The Samsung NX500 is essentially a scaled down version of Samsung’s flagship NX1. It uses the same 28MP BSI-CMOS sensor, advanced hybrid AF system, and DRIMe V processor as the NX1, with the main differences being the design (rangefinder vs SLR), burst mode (9 vs 15 fps), and viewfinder (none vs electronic). We’ve been using a production NX500 for a couple of days, and we’ve put together a gallery of real-world samples. We’ll update this gallery with some converted Raw files as soon as possible. Click through for the gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Hands-on with Samsung’s new NX500

06 Feb

Samsung has just taken the wraps off a new mirrorless camera, which inherits most of the features from the company’s flagship NX1. The NX500 takes a lot of the core features of the NX1 and wraps them up in a much smaller, rangefinder-style body at a lower cost. We got our hands on an NX1 recently, to get a feel for how this new camera feels and operates. Click through for some images

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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NX big thing: Samsung’s flagship NX30 reviewed and rated

22 May

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The NX30 uses the same 20MP, Samsung-designed CMOS sensor and Hybrid AF system as the more compact NX300, but puts it into an SLR-style body with a pull-out, tilting electronic viewfinder and generous hand grip. Add in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity options, a 3″ AMOLED display and 1080/60p video, and the NX30 is arguably Samsung’s most enthusiast-oriented camera yet. But does it offer anything to standout from other high-performing cameras in its class? Find out in our review

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Measuring the camera capabilities of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 3

26 Oct

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Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 makes good on the promise of the ‘phablet’ thanks to its huge, high-resolution screen and its muscular processing. But how does it fare as a camera? We put the super-sized smartphone through its photographic paces on connect.dpreview.com.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Wi-Fi version of Samsung’s Galaxy Camera to sell for $450 in the US

04 Apr

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Samsung US has announced the Wi-Fi version of its Galaxy Camera will be available from the end of this month at a retail price $ 449.99 – $ 50 less than the version with both 3G/4G and Wi-Fi. Announced in February 2013, the Wi-Fi model shares the same feature-set as the 3G and 4G versions, including a 21x, 23-481mmm equivalent zoom lens on the front with a 4.8″ touchscreen on the back. It runs Android 4.1 (known as Jelly Bean), the latest version of the operating system. Click through to read more at connect.dpreview.com

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Connect: Samsung’s ‘Smart Camera’ to be released this week in the UK

06 Nov

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Samsung has announced UK residents can purchase its Android-based Galaxy Camera this week for £399. The device  runs Android 4.1 and has 3G/4G connectivity as well as Wi-Fi. Though not a fully functional mobile phone, the Galaxy Camera can run applications such as Skype to make and receive voice calls. Its 16-megapixel camera has 21x optical zoom and comes with built-in “photo wizard” editing software. 

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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