Mark your calendars for March 29, folks, as this will be the worldwide debut of Samsung’s giant new GN2 camera sensor in a phone, the Mi 11 Ultra. That’s not the only intriguing thing about a handset that has all the modern bells and whistles, plus record fast wired and wireless charging to take the crown from the OnePlus 9 Pro, but it’s the component with the most added value.
- Huge 1/1.12″ sensor size with large 1.4 micron physical pixels (vs 1/33″ and 0.8 micron for the 108MP sensor in the Galaxy S21 Ultra)
- 50MP/100MP shots
- Default 12.5MP mode with binned 2.8 micron pixel giants
- New Dual Pixel Pro autofocus with both left/right and top/bottom focusing phases
- Efficient Staggered-HDR and Smart ISO Pro for greatly improved dynamic range
- 120fps 4K slow-motion video
This is why Samsung was the first able to introduce true continuous autofocus while recording video, but now with Dual Pixel Pro it takes things to the next level. Instead of separating the two focusing diodes at the base of each pixel vertically, it splits them diagonally, so that not only the left and right focus phases can be merged, but also the top and bottom ones. This would result in a picture that is never out of focus, including moving objects.
In addition, Samsung’s new 50MP sensor introduces a technology called Staggered-HDR, a “time-multiplexed HDR technology that uses rolling shutters over the same pixel arrays to capture multiple frames in short, middle, and long exposures.”