The camera megapixel wars have been some key battles recently in the flagship and mid-range segments. We have seen smartphone cameras run around the 12-megapixel to 21-megapixel mark for years. Suddenly within a couple of years, these numbers have jumped to 48-megapixel, 64-megapixel, and even 108-megapixels. Now the latest addiction seems to be a new 192-megapixel camera.
Leaker Digital Chat Station has reported on Chinese social media site Weibo that a 192-megapixel smartphone is on its way. The post also hinted that more information should reach us by next month on the new camera sensor.
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The tipster has also noted that the new device will come equipped with an SM7250 processor. This is the mid-range Snapdragon 765 processor. This means that the phone to feature the new high-resolution camera sensor will be a mid-range device and not a flagship one.
Note that while the Snapdragon 765 SoCs do support a resolution like 192-megapixels, there is a catch. The processor while dealing with such a high megapixel count cannot deal with HDR and general multi-frame processing. So a 192-megapixel shot would definitely be a separate mode on the camera app that will not support other features like HDR.
Qualcomm had earlier revealed that 192-megapixels is now the default Qualcomm Snapdragon ISP limitation that smartphone makers will have to work with, whenever they build new devices. Judd Heape, Senior Director of Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies Inc, had confirmed back then that higher resolution camera sensors on mid-range processors often have to give up elements like ZSL (Zero Shutter Lag). It will be interesting to see if the new sensor will change this.
This is not the first time we have heard of such big sensors. Neither is the 108-megapixel sensor the only three-figure sensor size so far. Qualcomm had revealed that its flagship Snapdragon 865 series can support resolutions till up to 200-megapixels. Further, the company also told Android Authority that it is even working with partners already to produce 200-megapixel sensors.