How is the 48MP camera on Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 possible? Explained

Xiaomi recently launched its Redmi Note 7 phone in China. The main attraction of the phone is its 48MP camera sensor. The company has used the 48MP Samsung GM1 sensor on the back side with the secondary 5MP camera for portrait shots.

If we talk about the hardware, the Redmi Note 7 hoods pack a Snapdragon 660 chipset. When we look at Snapdragon 660 features, the chipset supports up to the 25MP single camera only. So, how does Redmi Note 7 play a 48MP camera? Is this fake? Let's know the truth behind the 48MP sensor and how it works.

Redmi Note 7 48MP camera

Redmi Note 7 has a 48MP primarily rear camera. Currently, the 48-megapixel camera is offered by Samsung's GM1 and Sony's IMX586 sensor. Redmi Note 7 comes with Samsung GM1 sensor. Samsung's sensor is a 0.8μm-pixel sensor, which is actually a 12MP sensor, which adds 4 pixels to 1 and gives a 48MP image.

How is the 48MP camera on Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 possible? Explained

So, even though the output image from Redmi Note 7 is 48MP, it's actually a 12MP sensor. The Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 sensor uses Four-in-One pixel Binning Technology to create a 12MP image in the 48MP image.

What is Pixel Binning?

Pixel Binning is basically an ISP level implementation process, where 4 pixels add information to 1 pixel. In the Samsung GM1 sensor, pixel binning takes pixels in 2 × 2 grids and adds them to one.

What is Pixel Binning?

Samsung-GM1-48MP sensor

So, the information captured by 4 different pixels now gets combined into a larger pixel, which is also called Super Pixel. This data collected by 4 adjacent pixels combine in a "superpixel" and it is called pixel binning. However, this 4-in-1 pixel binding resulted in an effective 4x sensor resolution in the image.

Thus by adding raw data from four pixels to one, the output image is a high resolution because it captured a large amount of light and also reduced the noise. Xiaomi used this sensor and claimed to present a 48MP image which was actually captured from a 12MP sensor. However, the resultant image is bright and there is a low noise after the use of pixels due to the combination of pixels with a combination of data of four pixels simultaneously.

What do you guys think about this 48MP camera sensor? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Header Ads

How is the 48MP camera on Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 possible? Explained