Samsung Shows Off Its 200-Megapixel Smartphone Camera With 6,630 Sq Ft Billboard
To put its incredible ISOCELL 200-megapixel (MP) mobile image sensor to the test, engineers at Samsung Electronics set out to print a 28-meter-wide (91-feet-wide), 22-meter-high (72-feet-high) photograph—of a cat.
The challenge, which could possibly be a prelude to the brand incorporating the technology into its upcoming range of smartphones, resulted in an astonishing image spanning the area of one-and-a-half basketball courts.
“I have always wondered just how big you could go when it comes to printing out a 200MP image,” quipped Minhyuk Lee, an engineer from the Sensor Solutions Team at Samsung’s System LSI Business.
“As exciting as it was, the challenge was a demanding one, as this was our first time showcasing the quality of an image sensor that has yet to be adopted in smartphones,” he added.
In fact, the choice of subject for the photograph made the endeavor all the more complex, considering that the sensor had to shoot a lively, moving cat instead of an inanimate object. Nonetheless, the team forged ahead, wanting to demonstrate the high level of detail that could be captured, and of course, having an adorable feline front a campaign is always a popular choice.
In order to take the photograph, the team had to mount the sensor onto a test board, before engineers modified its settings to optimize exposure and focus. The final result stunned photographer Hyunjoong Kim, who said he hadn’t expected by the degree of detail showed, and that the prejudices he had towards smartphone photography “had been proven wrong.”
The printing process wasn’t a walk in the park either, as with such a large image, the picture had to be printed on 12 separate pieces of fabric before being stitched together. Most importantly, it demonstrated that an image captured by the 200MP sensor could be zoomed in on and cropped without comprising quality.
“When the picture was unfurled for the big reveal, the true enormousness of it really struck me, and not just because of its actual size. The moment I witnessed the 200 million pixels depicting the stunning detail of the cat’s eyes and fur, I was overwhelmed by all of the effort that had gone into developing this final product,” summed up the project lead.
