Fancy a single-lensed camera phone that can shoot 192MP? Nope, we're not too keen either (give us larger pixels not more) but it may well be a possibility, thanks to Qualcomm's chips and just how far they can be pushed.
Qualcomm recently added some new information to its spec sheet for a number of its processors and it was all about just how many megapixels its chips can support.
According to GizChina, the following chips have always been able to support 192MP on a single camera, Qualcomm just hadn't released the information: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 670, Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 855.
On the spec sheet, Qualcomm revealed that its chips could take a single camera system up to 192MP. And in a recent interview with MySmartPrice, Judd Heape, Sr Director of Product Management for cameras at Qualcomm confirmed this is the case but there is no OEM currently making those types of sensors.
Interestingly, this high-megapixel tech is heading off in a different direction to the multi-camera arrays of phones like the Nokia 9 PureView, where image quality takes a front seat, not megapixels.
Mega megapixels
Currently the highest is 48MP, as seen in the Honor View 20, with Samsung ISOCELL GM1 and Sony IMX586 sensors offering this megapixel count.
But, and this is where it gets interesting, Judd noted (paraphrased by MySmartPrice) that "we can expect multiple brands to release phones with 64MP and even larger than 100MP cameras by the end of this year."
We don't know the OEMs busy making these sensors but given Sony and Samsung are the ones at the forefront of 48MP, it would be likely that we something of that MP magnitude from them.
- The best camera phones around right now
