Buzz
First, let's understand why it's 200MP?
In theory, increasing the number of pixels on the sensor doesn't greatly improve the image quality of the phone but simply increases the maximum resolution the sensor can capture. High-resolution images contain more information, allowing you to zoom in and crop without losing detail. However, cropping a photo from one sensor (no matter how large) to match the quality of another sensor is challenging, unless the sensor being cropped is very large. On most phones, it's not feasible.
Similarly, when comparing the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max, both have main cameras with similar sensor sizes: 1/1.3 inch and 1/1.28 inch respectively. However, the pixel size on the S23 Ultra is only 0.6 microns, while on the iPhone, it's up to 1.22 microns.
Does the Galaxy S23 Ultra always capture photos at 200MP? NO! It only produces 12MP images thanks to pixel binning technology. Why develop this technology? Because cramming more pixels onto the sensor introduces a new problem: smaller pixels gather less light, leading to overall image noise. I've discussed this in detail in the article: '', you can review it.
Therefore, by default, when capturing, the S23 Ultra will give you a 12MP image. You'll have to choose if you want to capture a 200MP or 50MP image. When shooting in these high-resolution modes, the device also takes longer to process, around 0.3 - 0.5 seconds, so if you want to shoot at night, continuously, or capture moving objects, forget about this 200MP mode.Image Quality Details
A 200MP image produces a size of 16,320 x 12,240 px at a focal length of 24mm. Meanwhile, a 100x zoom image has a default size of 4,000 x 3,000 px but with a focal length of 230mm (digitally zoomed to 2300mm, nearly 100 times the 24mm focal length). What does this mean? Essentially, the camera uses the same 10MP sensor separately zoomed in 10 times and captures 100% of what it perceives at the time of capture with a size of 4,000 x 3,000 px. However, when cropping 100 times, you'll get an image of only 160 x 120 px from the 200MP original. You'll notice a significant difference in quality.(Click on each image below to see more details)
Additionally, applying the same theory, if you capture an image at 10x zoom and crop it to compare with an image already zoomed to 100x, the quality will also be inferior.
