Pixel Binning
A feature of some camera sensors that combines multiple neighboring camera sensor pixels into one virtual pixel. Commonly, groups of four pixels (2x2) are combined into one.
This technique reduces noise and improves low-light sensitivity.
In a phone with a camera sensor resolution of 20 megapixels or less, pixel binning is often a special low-light mode of the camera, which may be triggered manually or automatically. The trade-off is resolution (detail). For example, a 16 megapixel sensor might produce a 4 megapixel image in pixel-binning mode.
Some high-resolution camera sensors are designed with pixel binning as the default, such as a 48-megapixel sensor that normally produces 12-megapixel images. In these phones, pixel binning may only disabled in a special mode (if available) that produces very high-resolution images. Some phones do not have this high-resolution mode, meaning users cannot actually access the full advertised resolution of the camera.
Last updated Jan 7, 2021 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
