The Samsung ISOCELL HP3 is the company's latest 200MP camera sensor, building on last year's ISOCELL HP1 with a significantly smaller pixel size, smarter HDR processing, and the ability to shoot 8K video at 30fps — making it one of the most capable mobile image sensors announced to date.
Samsung ISOCELL HP3: What's New Over the HP1
Samsung introduced the original ISOCELL HP1 200MP sensor in 2021. The new ISOCELL HP3 takes that foundation and refines it in several meaningful ways. The pixel size drops from 0.64 microns to 0.56 microns — a 12 percent reduction — which allows the sensor to occupy 20 percent less physical space while maintaining the same 200MP resolution. That smaller footprint makes it easier for smartphone manufacturers to fit the sensor into thinner device designs without sacrificing resolution.
The sensor supports a 1/1.4 optical format and is capable of recording 8K video at 30fps. Samsung also states that field-of-view loss during video capture will be minimal, which is an important practical improvement for everyday video recording.
Low-Light Photography and T2P Pixel-Binning Technology
One of the standout features of the ISOCELL HP3 is Samsung's Tetra2Pixel (T2P) technology. This pixel-binning approach lets the sensor combine adjacent pixels to effectively operate as a 50MP sensor with 1.12-micron pixels, or a 12.5MP sensor with 2.24-micron pixels. Larger effective pixel sizes absorb more light, which translates directly to better performance in low-light conditions without the noise penalties typically associated with small pixels.
This means the HP3 can intelligently switch between full 200MP resolution for bright-light detail shots and binned lower-resolution modes for dimly lit environments — all within the same sensor hardware.
Smart ISO Pro, HDR, and Color Depth
The ISOCELL HP3 includes Samsung's Smart ISO Pro mechanism, which dynamically selects ISO settings across low, mid, and high ranges to optimize the sensor's dynamic range (DR) for any given scene. This enables Vivid HDR image capture that retains detail in both shadows and highlights.
The sensor also supports staggered HDR capture and delivers 14-bit color depth, allowing it to record more than 4 trillion colors in a single image. That level of color depth far exceeds what most smartphone displays can render today, but it provides headroom for editing and future-proofs the output for higher-end display standards.
Samsung's Camera Sensor History
Samsung first launched a 108MP ISOCELL sensor back in 2019, and it debuted commercially in the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra in 2020. The 108MP sensor remained a fixture in Samsung's flagship lineup for two consecutive years. The ISOCELL HP1 — the 200MP predecessor to the HP3 — was launched in 2021 and is expected to appear in Motorola's upcoming flagship device.
There is strong speculation that the ISOCELL HP3 could be used in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, though Samsung has not officially confirmed this. Samples of the sensor are already available, and the company has indicated mass production could begin before the end of the year.
For a full overview of Samsung's camera and mobile technology lineup, visit the Samsung brand page.
Key Specifications at a Glance
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 200MP |
| Optical Format | 1/1.4 inch |
| Pixel Size | 0.56 microns |
| Pixel Binning | Tetra2Pixel (T2P) — up to 2.24 microns |
| Video | 8K at 30fps |
| Color Depth | 14-bit (4 trillion+ colors) |
| HDR | Smart ISO Pro, Vivid HDR, Staggered HDR |
| ISO Modes | Low, Mid, High |
| Sample Availability | Available now |
| Mass Production | Expected by end of year |
