Samsung commenced mass production of an image sensor it claimed offers the industry’s smallest pixel size, which can reduce the height of a camera module by about 10 per cent and so minimise protrusion.

The 50MP sensor has a 1/2.76-inch optical format and uses Isocell 2.0 technology, which when coupled with added enhancements improves light sensitivity by about 16 per cent, the company said.

Chang Duck-hyun, EVP for Samsung’s sensor business, said the Isocell JN1 has a 0.64-micrometre pixel size, noting the company’s “advanced pixel technologies have once again pushed the boundaries with the utmost precision to develop an image sensor with the industry’s smallest pixel size”.

Other features include Samsung’s four-to-one pixel binning technology Tetrapixel and Smart-ISO, a technology which changes the conversion gain based on the environment’s illumination level.

The sensor supports 4K video capture at 60fps.