Samsung is working on a new camera sensor, and once it finds its way into a next-gen Galaxy S-series device, it could help alleviate some of the brand’s problems with shutter speed.
As reported by Sisa Journal (via @jukan05 on Twitter), Samsung is in the process of developing a “global shutter-level image sensor” meant to replace the rolling shutter method used in most smartphone cameras. As specified in this report, any sensor that relies on global shutter immediately captures data with every pixel at once, rather than relying on sequentially-based pixel lines, but it does so at the cost of resolution. If you’re capturing with every pixel at once, the amount of data captured simultaneously can cause processing slowdown and other issues.
Samsung, however, believes it’s developed around that. Its new sensor “combines a pixel structure and algorithm technology based on existing rolling shutter hardware” by building an analog-to-digital converter within the pixels themselves to read its own data. While doing that to every pixel does result in a sensor too large for current smartphones, by keeping the pixel size at 1.5µm within a “2×2 bundle,” the size concerns go away. Effectively, every four pixels are grouped with one converter.
There is, as you might expect, a bit of a catch here. According to a comment shared by a Samsung official, because that 2×2 bundle operates effectively as a rolling shutter on its own, captured images include “slight image distortion” that wouldn’t be seen on an unmodified global shutter. That’s where the company’s new camera algorithm comes in, applying motion compensation to help make up for that limited shortcoming.
That’s all fairly technical, and I’d advise anyone interested in the pure science behind it to check out that linked post above. The end result, however, is pretty understandable: this technology could help Samsung solve ongoing motion blur issues that have plagued Galaxy devices for ages now. While not every phone is as problematic — I found this year’s Galaxy S25 Ultra to perform far ahead of its predecessor’s camera system — Samsung does struggle with shutter lag more than, say, Google’s Pixel lineup.
It’s unclear when these sensors will make it to an actual consumer device, or if the first of these sensors will even be made by Samsung — apparently, Apple is interested in the same technology. Still, it could make for a pretty exciting next-gen Galaxy S lineup whenever the technology’s ready, though at its current 12MP cap, it’s tricky to imagine seeing it as anything more than a secondary lens.
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