It’s not the size that counts, it’s how you use it
Samsung today introduced its latest imaging sensor, the 50-megapixel ISOCELL JN1, which it claims has the smallest individual pixels in the industry. Housed on a relatively small 1/2.76-inch package, each of the 50 million pixels measures just 0.64µm. For contrast, these are almost one-third the size of the iPhone 12’s camera pixels, which measure 1.7µm. By using smaller individual pixels, Samsung has been able to achieve relatively higher megapixel counts, which often serves as a marketing tool for handset manufacturers, even if it does not translate into better image quality. When you shrink a pixel, the surface that can absorb light is diminished, thereby worsening its performance in low-light conditions. To compensate, sensor manufacturers use a technique called pixel binning, where several pixels (typically four, but often more) are combined into a single unit.
