Samsung and its seemingly unending quest to cram as many megapixels into a smartphone as possible has taken the next step, with the company announcing its new 200MP sporting ISOCELL HP3.

It is not the first time that the South Korean firm has pushed the boundaries in terms of phone capabilities.

This latest offering is particularly significant because it not only serves up a massive 200MP image sensor, but also features the smallest pixels that Samsung has produced to date at 0.56μm (microns) on a sensor that measures 1/1.4 inches.

This means that smartphone makers will not need to sacrifice in terms of keeping flagship devices as slim as possible when utilising this new 200MP sensor.

“The ISOCELL HP3, with a 12 percent smaller pixel size than the predecessor’s 0.64μm, packs 200 million pixels in a 1/1.4” optical format, which is the diameter of the area that is captured through the camera lens. This means that the ISOCELL HP3 can enable an approximately 20 percent reduction in camera module surface area, allowing smartphone manufacturers to keep their premium devices slim,” notes Samsung in a press announcement.

“The sensor also allows users to take videos in 8K at 30 frames-per-second (fps) or 4K at 120fps, with minimal loss in the field of view when taking 8K videos. Combined with the Super QPD solution, users can take movie-like cinematic footage with their mobile devices,” it adds.

At this stage it remains to be seen which devices will feature the new ISOCELL HP 3, but Samsung does note that, “samples of the Samsung ISOCELL HP3 are currently available, and mass production is set to begin this year.”

As such, we will more than likely see a Samsung flagship phone feature the new sensor first, but what device that will be is unclear for now, especially as a new Note does not appear to be in the offing currently.