The race to improve the mobile photography Things have gotten especially interesting. Samsung is finalizing a new image sensor for smartphones that aims to bring something very similar to a [unclear - possibly "digital camera" or "digital camera"] to phones. global shutter, a technology that until now has been reserved almost exclusively for professional cameras and industrial uses.
According to various leaks and reports from South Korea, the company is working on a hybrid sensor capable of combining the efficiency of rolling shutter sensors with many of the practical advantages of a true global shutter, drastically reducing the typical distortions when there is fast movement in the scene.
What problem does the global shutter on a mobile phone aim to solve?
In most current smartphones, including high-end models sold in Spain and the rest of EuropeThe sensor operates with an electronic rolling shutter. This means that the camera Read the image line by line., from top to bottom (or vice versa), in a very small, but not instantaneous, time interval.
This minimal delay between the first and last line means that when something moves quickly—a passing car, a running football player, or a child running in the park— Each row of pixels captures a slightly different instantThe result is the famous "jelly effect": tilted objects, straight lines that appear crooked, and an unnatural motion blur.
The global shutter, on the other hand, exposes all pixels at the same timeThe scene is "frozen" in a single instant, so those geometric distortions disappear and motion blur is greatly reduced. The problem is that, by capturing everything at once, the volume of data to handle is enormous and requires larger pixels and more complex circuitry, which until now limited its use to low resolutions and bulkier sensors.
For this reason, integrating a pure global shutter into a slim mobile phone, with competitive resolutions and reasonable energy consumption, has always been a challenge. Samsung is now trying a middle-ground approach that maintains usable resolution on a phone while minimizing unwanted rolling shutter effects.
Samsung's new hybrid sensor: rolling on the inside, global on the outside
Leaks suggest that Samsung has developed a 12 megapixel sensor with 1,5 micrometer pixels arranged in 2x2 blocksThe beauty lies not only in the size, but in how those pixels are organized and read to behave, from the user's perspective, almost like a global shutter.
In that structure, four pixels share the same analog-to-digital converter (ADC)Normally, this ADC is located outside the pixel area and is responsible for transforming the analog signal captured by the sensor into processable digital data. Here, however, it is integrated directly at the pixel level, within each 2×2 grouping.
This integration allows the sensor to read data much faster without the chip growing disproportionately. Each 2x2 "package" works internally sequentially, like a small rolling shutter, but the set of all blocks is synchronized so that, in practice, the sensor It behaves very similarly to a global shutter at full-frame scale.
The result, according to company and industry sources, is a kind of practical level global shutterIt is not perfect from a theoretical point of view, because there is still a small sequence within each group, but the temporal differences are so small that, in actual use, the distortion becomes minimal.
To complete this hybrid approach, Samsung will support the new hardware in motion correction algorithmswhich use brightness information and intensity changes between pixels to compensate for the small discrepancies that still occur in those 2×2 blocks.
Pixel architecture: 1,5 µm, 2×2 blocks and integrated ADC
The centerpiece of the proposal is the new 1,5 µm pixel structuredesigned to maintain a reasonable balance between light sensitivity, physical sensor size, and processing power. By grouping the pixels into 2x2 structuresSamsung achieves that a single ADC handles four pixels, reducing design complexity compared to a per-pixel converter.
This approach makes it easier for the sensor to remain compatible with typical camera modules of a smartphone, without excessively increasing the device's thickness or the size of the optical assembly. Unlike a pure global shutter, which typically requires significantly larger pixels, this system leverages the existing rolling shutter design and reinforces it with additional electronics.
Because the converter is embedded within the pixel matrix itself, analog signal conversion times are significantly reduced. This theoretically translates to faster captures, less shutter lag and a shorter window of time in which the sensor lines are exposed differently.
Internal company tests reportedly showed a significant reduction of motion distortions compared to conventional rolling sensors, with figures that some reports place at around 30% fewer artifacts in scenes with fast movements.
Software correction: optical flow and motion compensation
Although the hybrid architecture itself reduces the problem, Samsung doesn't rely solely on hardware. The company complements the sensor design with optical flow algorithms that analyze how the brightness and apparent position of pixels change between frames or during reading.
When the system detects brightness variations that correspond to a camera or subject movement, applies a mathematical correction to slightly adjust the image geometry and neutralize the residual distortions from the internal rolling of those 2×2 packets.
In practice, this combination of hardware and software achieves images that closely approximate what a traditional global shutter would offer: more stable straight linesLess object tilting and action video without so much "jelly effect." This is especially relevant in sports recordings, concerts, or quick urban sceneswhere the phone is constantly moving.
The algorithms will also be integrated, according to reports, with the solutions of artificial intelligence of the Galaxy platformIn this way, the system could decide in real time when it is appropriate to activate a reading mode closer to the global shutter and when standard operation is sufficient to save energy.
Resolution and intended use: 12 MP for secondary cameras
Another important piece of the puzzle is the resolution. All the leaks agree that this first sensor with behavior of global shutter will remain around the 12 megapixelsThis doesn't fit well with the figures for the main sensors of current flagship vessels, which in many cases range between 50 and 200 MP.
For that reason, everything points to the new component initially being used in auxiliary cameras: ultra-wide-angle or telephoto lenses, where the need to freeze motion is especially critical and the 12 MP resolution is still very useful for photo and video.
In these secondary opticians, the user usually looks stability when zooming, capturing sports, animals or street scenes with a lot of dynamism. Reducing the jelly effect and lag can represent a more visible leap than adding megapixels that then end up being compressed for social media.
In the specific case of the European market, where high-end Galaxy phones have a strong presence and compete head-to-head with iPhones and Pixels, having a secondary camera specialized in clean motion capture This could become a key selling point against other manufacturers.
Possible integration into the next Galaxy S series
Although there is no official confirmation of specific models, various Korean media outlets and leakers agree that Samsung plans to introduce this sensor in future high-end Galaxy SThe Galaxy S26 and S27 series have been mentioned as candidates to debut this technology.
Internal documents and leaked reports mention that the 12 MP sensor would be geared towards a telephoto or ultra-wide-angle lens, accompanying a very high resolution main sensor that would continue to use traditional rolling shutter, supported by software improvements.
It has also been noted that Samsung intends to publicly present part of this architecture in the ISSCC 2026, one of the most important international conferences in the field of semiconductor circuits. This presentation would serve as a technical showcase and as a preliminary step towards its commercial launch in consumer devices.
Ultimately, the company seeks to strengthen its position in the premium segment, an increasingly demanding market in Europe, where Camera quality is one of the most decisive factors in purchasing decisions. and where rivals like Apple and Google are particularly pushing in computational photography.
Impact on daily life: sports, video, and family scenes
Beyond the engineering details, the big question is what this means for the average user. The answer lies in three key scenarios: action photography, video, and everyday scenes with lots of movement.
In photography, the new sensor should allow for obtaining sharper images of moving subjects without resorting to excessively short exposure times that force a high ISO sensitivity and generate more noise. This can make a difference in photos of interiors, sports arenas, or concerts.
In video, the decrease in the gelatin effect translates into more stable shots when panning (The camera is rotated from side to side) or when filming from vehicles, bicycles, or on foot. The vertical lines of buildings, lampposts, or poles should appear less distorted, something that is immediately noticeable in urban recordings.
In everyday life, this technology can help to capture better children running, pets, traffic, or outdoor activitiessituations where many users notice that photos come out blurry or with strange shapes, even using current high-end mobile phones.
For the European market, which is very fond of share content on social media and messaging appsHaving a mobile phone that manages movement better without having to resort to special modes or tripods can become an added value that weighs heavily in the purchase decision.
A move in a highly competitive market
The development of this sensor with global shutter behavior did not occur in a vacuum. Several reports indicate that Apple is also investigating similar solutions. for future iPhones, and even has patents related to the integration of global shutters in next-generation CMOS sensors.
In parallel, there is talk of technical collaborations between major players in the sector—including Samsung itself and other sensor providers—to explore architectures such as advanced CMOS platforms that can accommodate these types of innovations. The idea is to go beyond traditional resolution increases and focus efforts on dynamic range, motion capture, and efficiency.
In this context, Samsung's 12MP hybrid sensor could just be the first step in a family of sensors with global shutter or near-global, mobile-oriented. Over time, the company could increase the resolution or extend this technology to the main camera, provided it manages to keep the physical size and power consumption under control.
Whatever the exact timeline, everything points to the next big battle in the high-end It won't be so much the megapixel count that matters, but rather the ability to capture complex scenes without distortion or lag. In this area, Samsung's new sensor could give the brand a competitive edge, especially in markets like Europe, where the camera remains a key factor when choosing a new phone.
With this project, Samsung is trying to make a qualitative leap in the way smartphones manage movement: a camera sensor with global shutter at a practical levelBased on hybrid hardware and powerful algorithms, it promises to significantly reduce the jelly effect and blur, starting with the secondary cameras of its future flagship phones and with a direct impact on the photo and video experience of users in Spain and the rest of Europe.
