A purported Galaxy S9 retail box surfaced recently and revealed some specifications of the upcoming flagship smartphone. It mentioned a “Super Speed” 12-megapixel Dual Pixel rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization and support for variable aperture and Super Slow-mo. Previous rumors have also suggested that the Galaxy S9 might have support for 1000fps slow motion like the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
New information that might possibly be about the Galaxy S9 camera has been discovered on Samsung's own website. It suggests that the handset might have a “3-stack FRS” camera with the ability to record full HD video at 480 frames per second.
Galaxy S9 camera
Samsung has published a new page on its website about a new ISOCELL camera sensor which it's likely going to use for the Galaxy S9. The page details a 3-stack fast-read-out sensor made up of three layers, it's this layering of the camera sensor that enables it to be faster and support more accurate focus.
This 3-stack FRS component will enable the Galaxy S9 to record slow-mo video at 480 frames per second in 1080p full HD. It merits mentioning here that if the sensor is capable of recording 1080 Full HD at 480 frames per second then it should ideally be able to record 720p video at 960 frames per second. This will make the Galaxy S9 one of the very few handsets on the market capable of recording super slow-mo video.
It's similar to the Xperia XZ Premium's memory-stacked image sensor capable of recording slow-mo video at 960 frames per second in 720p, though Sony's sensor is only capable of doing that in short bursts, and it remains to be seen whether the Galaxy S9 will allow users to increase the duration.
The new sensor also features “Super PD” autofocus or Super Phase Detection autofocus. Samsung hasn't gone into a lot of detail but it does mention on the page that the sensor is capable of accurately estimating the distance to fast moving objects even in conditions when the lighting is not ideal. This results in improvements for autofocus speeds.
This is what the Galaxy S9 camera is likely going to bring to the table. We might be on to something here because Samsung was quick to pull all of the information from the source page even though the URL still remains accessible. That page has gone blank rather quickly.
It also remains to be see what additional functionality the Galaxy S9+'s dual camera system will bring to the table as it's going to be the only handset in the upcoming flagship series to tout two rear cameras.
Recent trademark applications suggest that the camera is likely going to be one of the biggest selling points of the Galaxy S9 and with good reason. That's because the new flagships are expected to look more or less the same as the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Samsung is due to unveil the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ next month at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona.
