Samsung Shares Epic Moments on a Huge Billboard Screen in London With Galaxy S23 Ultra and 200MP ISOCELL Image Sensor

The quality of photos and videos is an instrumental benefit of smartphones — it is often what differentiates one device over another. And, what’s the key ingredient that determines quality? Put simply, it is a smartphone camera’s image sensor.

One of the highest resolution mobile image sensors in the world — the 200MP — is embedded inside Samsung’s newest flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. To prove the true power and detail of its ISOCELL image sensor, Samsung took to the streets of London to showcase photos captured with the 200MP technology in brilliant resolution on one of Europe’s biggest billboards. Check out the video below for behind-the-scenes film from the event.

“There aren’t many locations in the world more iconic and exciting than the bright lights of London’s Piccadilly”, said Annika Bizon of Marketing and Omnichannel at Samsung Electronics U.K. “So where better to demonstrate the power of our Samsung technology while empowering consumers to have fun at the same time? It’s so important to demonstrate in an accessible and imaginative way like this, what innovations can help people really achieve.”

To bring this to life, Samsung placed an old photobooth with the Galaxy S23 Ultra device to capture epic moments using the ISOCELL HP2 image sensor with the 200MP inside the camera — and then shared these on the big screen, showcasing how more pixels can truly mean epic details. Ran Chae of Global Marcom team at Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions Division explained: “We took the 200MP photos captured in the booth and posted them up on London’s enormous Piccadilly Circus billboard that reaches nearly 700 inches in height, and then zoomed in about 8.5x to show that the photo quality in every pixel remains true to life even when dramatically zoomed in.”

Over 100 content creators that represented diverse communities across the U.K. took part in the event, along with members of the public and competition winners. Each had their photo taken inside the booth, where the advanced 200MP ISOCELL HP2 image sensor captured their epic moment in ultra-high resolution to be shared on the iconic Piccadilly billboard. The photobooth was well attended over the weekend with more than 200 visitors and over 800 photos captured from inside the photobooth across the two days.

Prominent photography creators particularly enjoyed the opportunity to be the subject for once as they tested out the ISOCELL technology. Photographer Chris Priestley — who shared content throughout the event with his 1.3M social followers — explained: “As a photographer, I’m usually behind the camera, so it’s been amazing to be on the other side and to see the sheer quality of the technology on myself.”

People all around the world were eager to take part as their submitted photos displayed in ultra-high resolution on the big screen. Content creators in the U.S., India, China and Germany captured beautiful self-portraits or landscape scenery, which were brought to life on the billboard with 200MP technology. Valentina Pahde, who attended from Germany and shared content with her 844K followers, gushed: “To be photographed in a photobooth and to see my picture in XXL size on the billboard at Piccadilly Circus … I still can’t believe it!”

Alongside the photobooth event, Samsung also ran a photo competition for Galaxy S23 Ultra users in the U.S. and U.K. to drive further buzz on social media. Entrants took to Instagram to #SharetheEpic by capturing a 200MP photo using their Galaxy S23 Ultra device for a chance to see it live on the world-famous billboard. Entrants submitted a variety of images — from landscapes to family and friends, beloved pets and even selfies. Overall, 14 users’ photos were selected from the pre-event competition. Several winners attended in-person to experience the epic details of their 200MP photo live on the big screen, as one shared: “I’m really excited to see what 200MP looks like on the big screen … Wow, that’s my photo — it’s so clear!”

Members of the public were also excited to join Samsung in the photobooth for the chance to see their image shown in magnificent detail on the billboard, with many in awe of the image clarity: “200MP, wow — the quality of the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera is incredible — can you send me that?”

Crowds cheered as the ISOCELL-captured images went live in epic details — focusing in on lifelike details in exceptional definition, from hair to freckles. A crowd favorite was when content creator Josh Ryan, who shares lifestyle content on his modelling career, took to the screen: “It was so exciting seeing Josh Ryan in person that I actually stayed around to see him on the big screen. He was so zoomed in — the detail was incredible!” Josh also shared his experience with his 3.6M social followers after the event.

Visitors were thrilled to capture every moment of the event. Technology creator Cadea, who shared an Instagram grid post of the event with her 25K followers, praised the product and experience: “It was incredible to be a part of such an innovative, once in a lifetime experience and to get hands-on with the products — very humbling to see the insane level of detail their cameras can capture on the big screen!”

Consumers on Instagram and TikTok were equally astonished to see the epic details illustrated on the huge billboard, resulting in strong engagement online. Lifestyle creator Fats Timbs, who shared her experience of the event through an Instagram reel, received hundreds of positive comments, including one on the zoomed-in detail of her “lashes” and other close-up details shown on the big screen.

You can check out the images and videos from the event on Instagram and TikTok — or even better, if you are a Galaxy S23 Ultra user, get involved by sharing your own 200MP images with the hashtags #SharetheEpic and #MorePixelsEpicDetails.