Tipster reveals more information about the telephoto camera on the Galaxy S20/S20+

The rear camera setup on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S20 series promises to be impressive. As you might expect, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, the top-of-the-line model, has the more exciting lineup of sensors and technology. First, there is a 108MP wide camera that uses 9:1 pixel binning. This means that the data collected from every 9 pixels is merged into one. So with a 108MP sensor, the camera should be able to deliver sharp 12MP images with less noise.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra will also feature a 48MP telephoto camera that will use a periscope to offer 10x optical zoom and 100x hybrid zoom. The latter is being marketed as "Space Zoom," a trademarked name that will no doubt be plastered all over your television set once the phone is available for pre-order. There also will be a 12MP ultra-wide camera. Lastly, there is a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor that measures the time it takes for a beam of infrared light to bounce off of a subject and return to the phone. With that data, more accurate depth information can be obtained to deliver improved AR capabilities and create more natural bokeh blurring for portraits. It also can be used for a secure facial recognition system. A front-facing 40MP punch-hole selfie camera will be on board.

The Galaxy S20+ will be equipped with a 12MP wide camera, a 64MP telephoto camera offering 3x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom, a 12MP ultra-wide camera, and a ToF depth sensor. The Galaxy S20 will have the same setup on the back except it won't sport the ToF sensor. Both of these phones will have a 10MP punch-hole front-facing selfie camera. Yesterday, Ice universe (@UniverseIce) relayed some interesting information about the 64MP telephoto sensor that will be found on both models. Via a tweet, the tipster said that the Samsung Isocell S5KGW2 64MP sensor used on the Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 will result in a special "pure camera" that will not use 4:1 pixel binning to create 16MP images. The sensor will be employed for pixel cropping zoom and to record 8K video.

In the same thread on Twitter, an unknown Twitter user (@MJNPAPI) claimed to have had one of the new Galaxy S20 models in front of him. While we must take this with a grain of salt, the tweet said that the Director's View feature was available on the phone. This allows a Galaxy S20 user shooting a video to track a subject using all three cameras at the same time. Earlier this month, Ice universe discovered that it had been removed from test firmware for the flagship series. However, the new information, if true, suggests that Director's View will indeed be one of the new features found on the phones. Another feature, called Single Take, will automatically take pictures and selfies as you pan around an area. And Pro mode for video allows those more schooled in photography to shoot videos using manual controls.

The Galaxy S20 (6.2-inch), Galaxy S20+ (6.7-inch) and Galaxy S20 Ultra (6.9-inch) will all be equipped with a Dynamic AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 3200 and a 120Hz refresh rate. In all markets except for Europe, the handsets will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform. On the continent, the units will be driven by Samsung's own Exynos 990 SoC. All three handsets will carry 12GB of memory with 128GB of storage. The Galaxy S20 Ultra will also be available with 256GB of storage as well.

The pre-order period is expected to begin on February 11th when the new phones are unveiled. Those pre-ordering a Galaxy S20+ or a Galaxy S20 Ultra will receive a free pair of Galaxy Buds+ wireless Bluetooth earbuds valued at $149. The accessory will not include the popular Active Noise Cancellation feature found on some other wireless ear-worn devices.