Samsung intros the 16 MP ISOCELL Slim 3P9 image sensor

Earlier today, Samsung Electronics unveiled a new image sensor for mid-range mobile devices. The 16 MP ISOCELL Slim 3P9 comes alongside a Plug and Play solution that the multinational conglomerate headquartered in South Korea describes as "a pre-optimized turnkey camera module made up of an ISOCELL image sensor and preferred partner components to help expedite time-to-market."

The Samsung ISOCELL Slim 3P9 sensor comes with the following highlights:

• 1.0 μm pixels and Tetracell technology that merges four neighboring pixels, allowing the camera to provide an image quality similar to that achieved when using a 2.0 μm sensor
• advanced phase detection auto-focus with twice the auto-focus agent density than conventional PDAF sensors
• gyroscope-assisted electronic image stabilization

In addition to the sensor, Samsung also provides a complete solution for a rear camera module that also includes lenses and actuators. According to the company, "Since the optimization and reliability tests are done beforehand at the module-level rather than on the sensor alone, manufacturers can simply plug the camera module onto their device, saving up to four months of development time."

The image stabilization method mentioned earlier relies on the movement data provided by the device's gyroscope to adjust photos and videos, while the traditional electronic stabilization technology simply analyzes each captured frame to detect and compensate for angular movement.

Samsung's partners can already acquire the ISOCELL Slim 3P9 sensor and the Plug and Play solution, but there are no photo samples to talk about yet. However, the first handsets to use this new camera will probably come out this summer, so we should wait for them to come out before talking the real-life photo quality achieved by this new hardware solution.