Is 13 Mp Camera Good
Editors' note: This article originally published May 6, 2012, and was updated on February 13, 2013, and again on May 4, 2013.
In a matter of months, the high-end smartphone camera spec rocketed from a respectable 8 megapixels to an altitudinous 13.
The Samsung Milky way S4 and LG Optimus M Pro are the freshest examples of this megapixel push button, just fifty-fifty last January's Pantech Discover (12.6 megapixels), terminal October's LG Optimus G for Sprint (13 megapixels), and particularly mid-2012'south 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView piled on the megapixels.
Yet even though the technology exists, quality can exist just as uneven from telephone to telephone as information technology was when an 8-megapixel shooter was the "all-time" that money could buy.
Shootout!: Samsung Milky way S4 versus HTC Ane and iPhone 5
Championing that perception caput-on is HTC, the same company that not besides long agone boasted about the 16-megapixel photographic camera in its Titan 2. Now, in its HTC One flagship, the smartphone maker dials down the megapixel count to 4 megapixels, which HTC fancifully terms "Ultrapixels," arguing that the lager pixel size throws back the blinds to permit in much more light.
In this lies the reminder (something photography nuts volition tell you) that it's quite possible for an splendid 5-megapixel camera to produce photos you prefer over a shoddy 12-megapixel camera. The number of megapixels alone is no guarantee of heightened photographic performance.
Instead, the formula for fantastic photos comes down to the entire camera module, which includes the size and material of the main camera lens, the light sensor, the epitome processing hardware, and the software that ties it all together. So permit'southward swoop in.
Note: As always with this column, if y'all already consider yourself an adept, and so this commodity is probably not for you.
Central ingredient No. 1: The sensor
Nigh budding and professional person photographers will tell y'all that the near of import ingredient in the optical system is the sensor, considering that'due south the part that captures the light. The sensor is substantially the "flick" fabric of a digital camera. No light, no photo.
Light enters through the photographic camera lens, so passes to the photographic camera sensor, which receives the information and translates it into an electronic signal. From there, the epitome processor creates the prototype and fine-tunes it to correct for a typical ready of photographic flaws, like noise.
The size of the image sensor is extremely important. In full general, the larger the sensor, the larger your pixels, and the larger the pixels, the more than low-cal yous can collect. The more light yous can catch, the better your image can be.
The experts I spoke with for this story had colorful ways of describing the relationship between pixels and sensors, but "buckets of water" or "wells" were a favorite (intentionally oversimplified) analogy.
Imagine y'all have buckets (pixels) laid out on a blacktop (sensor). Y'all want to collect the about water (light) in those buckets equally possible. To extend the h2o-and-bucket analogy, the larger the sensor you have (blacktop), the larger the pixels (buckets) you can put onto it, and the more light (water) you can collect.
Larger sensors are the reason that 8 megapixels from a digital SLR photographic camera (or v or xiii) all-time those 8 megapixels from a smartphone photographic camera. Yous get roughly the same number of pixels, but the pixels on the dSLR get to exist larger, and therefore let in more lite. More light (more often than not) equals less-noisy images and greater dynamic range.
The fallacy of megapixels
You lot can commencement to see that cramming more than pixels onto a sensor may not be the all-time way to increase pixel resolution. That hasn't stopped the cell phone industry from doing only that.
Jon Erensen, a Gartner analyst who has covered camera sensors, remembers when we collectively made the spring from 1-megapixel to ii-megapixel shooters.
"They would brand the pixel sizes smaller [to fit in more pixels]," Erensen told me over the phone, "but go along the paradigm sensor the same."
"What concluded up happening is that the light would become into the well [the 'bucket'] and striking the photo-sensitive part of the image sensor, capturing the low-cal. And then if you make the wells smaller, the light has a harder time getting to the photo-sensitive function of the sensor. In the end, increased resolution wasn't worth very much. Dissonance increased," he said.
The human relationship betwixt the number of pixels and the physical size of the sensor is why some 8-megapixel cameras can outperform some 12-, xiii-, or even 16-megapixel smartphone cameras.
There's more than involved, also. A slim smartphone limits the sensor size for one, and moving upward the megapixel ladder without increasing the sensor size can degrade the photograph quality by letting in less light than you could get with slightly fewer megapixels.
Then again, drastically shrunken pixel sizes aren't ever the event when you increase your megapixels. HTC's Bjorn Kilburn, vice president of portfolio strategy, shared that the pixel size on the xvi-megapixel Titan II measures 1.12 microns, whereas each of the HTC I X's 8 pixels measures a slightly larger ane.four microns.
Equally a issue, the photo quality on both these HTC smartphones should be comparable at a pixel-past-pixel level.
Unfortunately, most smartphone makers don't share granular detail about their camera components and sensor size, so until we test them, the quality is largely upward in the air. Even if smartphone makers did release the details, I'thou not sure how scrutable those specs would exist to the majority of smartphone shoppers.
For more information on the interplay between megapixels and sensors, check out the fantabulous description in CNET'south digital camera buying guide.
What near Nokia'due south 41-megapixel PureView?
The story behind the 808 PureView smartphone as Nokia tells information technology is really interesting. CNET Senior Editor Josh Goldman has written ane of the all-time explanations of the Nokia 808 Pureview's 41-megapixel camera that I've seen. I strongly advise you read it.
In the meantime, here's a short summary of what's going on.
Juha (pronounce it YOO-hah) Alakarhu is head of photographic camera technologies at Nokia, where he works inside the Smart Devices team. Alakarhu explained to me that although Nokia has engineered the 808 to capture up to 41 megapixels, most users will view photos as the 5-megapixel default.
Commonly, when you use the digital zoom on your phone, y'all're blowing up and cropping an paradigm to encounter each pixel upward shut. You all know what that can look like: grainy, blocky, and not always as sharply focused or as colorful as yous'd like.
In the 808 PureView, Nokia uses a procedure called "oversampling," which -- for the 808'southward 5-megapixel default resolution -- condenses the data captured in 7 pixels into 1 (they phone call it a "superpixel"). If you zoom in on an object, you're but seeing part of the image that'southward already in that location, rather than scaling up. This method should translate to college-resolution digital printouts and zoom-ins than you'd commonly run into.
It's taken over five years to create the technology within the 808 PureView, Alakarhu said. Non only does the 808 lean on the physical size of the sensor (specifically 1/1.two-inch), there are besides custom algorithms on top of the sensor to adjust the image to reduce imperfections like racket. It's this ready of instructions that Nokia terms PureView, not the sensor size solitary.
Every bit CNET's Goldman has pointed out, this is an unusually large sensor for a smartphone, and information technology's also larger than sensors institute on the vast majority of point-and-shoot cameras.
Key ingredient No. 2: Image processing
In addition to the size and quality of the lens and sensor, in that location'southward also the image processor. Nigh mod high-end smartphone CPUs have dedicated graphics processors built into the chip, which, being hardware-accelerated and not just software-dependent, can quickly render images like photos, videos, and games without overtaxing the primary application processor.
HTC and Samsung have been pushing continuous-outburst mode hard, averaging i shot in a tenth of a second or less, thanks to split hardware-accelerated image processors that can capture shots like nobody'south business. Still, since burst mode doesn't give you lot time to focus, look to see some mistiness.
I promised that there was software bridging the hardware and the final paradigm, and at that place is. Algorithms and other logic are what create the final image output on the telephone's screen. This is where the most subjective chemical element of photography comes in: how your eye interprets the quality of colour, the photo'south sharpness, and and then on.
The image processor is also what helps reach nil shutter lag, when the camera captures the photo when you lot press the capture button, not a beat or two after.
Await, at that place'south more
At that place's much more to know about the competing engineering science that goes into sensors, but backside-illuminated sensors are starting to be used much more in smartphones.
This type of sensor is oft synonymous with better low-light performance because it increases photosensitivity. Withal, if you lot shoot in bright light, it can also accident out your image. Here are more than details on how backside illumination works.
Low-light functioning, by the way, is turning into a serious battleground for bragging rights. Nokia's Lumia 920 and Apple'south iPhone 5 currently rule this shadowy realm, with HTC's I vastly outperforming the Samsung Galaxy S4, which has no automated depression-light adjustments to speak of (though there are several shooting modes).
Backing out of the depression-light rabbit hole, it's important to notation that the camera's sensor size and image processor may be the most crucial elements for creating quality smartphone photos, simply other considerations come up into play. Higher-quality components, for example, can assist tease out ameliorate photos, just they could also cost more, which could lead to a marginally pricier camera.
While the cost of a camera module is only one part of the total cost, Gartner analyst Erensen said that high-cease parts could double the price of a basic camera set, and idea that parts could cost $15 per phone. The smartphone makers I contacted for this article, like Samsung and Nokia, wouldn't share sourcing or pricing information.
Usability is king
It'southward chop-chop becoming a well-worn aphorism that the best camera is the 1 you accept on you.
Despite the intense engineering science focus that goes into the camera'southward physical elements, it'southward hard to overstress the importance of both convenience and the total customer feel. How easy it is to open the photographic camera app from a locked position, how chop-chop photos capture, and how desirable the special effects and shooting modes are all add upwardly to either a camera you lot desire to apply or ane you don't.
Increasingly, some telephone makers, like HTC, LG, and Samsung, include extra logic in their big-ticket phones, like detecting smiles and selecting the best group photograph of a bunch. New modes have emerged among the top-tier Android handsets, including taking photos and videos from both front and rear cameras, besides every bit grouping activity shots into a unmarried frame.
Fancy filters and tricks are fun party games, but for most phone owners, said Drew Blackard, Samsung'southward senior manager of product planning, being able to quickly and easily share photos on the fly is far more than important than pixel count. Just await at Twitter's and Instagram'south (now Facebook-owned) runaway success in sharing simple, small photos.
Gartner'due south Erensen agrees. "What practise you actually gain from going higher than you need, in a practical sense?" he asked, adding that nearly people upload smartphone photos to online albums, or e-mail them to family and friends, formats that crave many fewer than viii megapixels, or even 5.
A trip to Indonesia illustrates what Nokia's Alakarhu and the others hateful by the whole feel taking precedence over the specs. While trekking with 22 pounds of gear on his back -- including a loftier-quality dSLR -- Alakarhu repeatedly reached for the Nokia 808 PureView he kept in his pocket.
Although he considers himself an amateur photographer who will put in the time to frame a great shot, Alakarhu said he found himself using the PureView more than because of its easy availability and quick commencement time when he didn't want to have the time to set up a more than involved shot on his digital photographic camera.
I take my share of similar stories, and I doubtable that yous do, too.
We definitely shouldn't scrap pixel count when weighing smartphone camera specs against others, but when it comes to all the hardware and software that create a great photo, the megapixel count alone just isn't enough. Information technology's fourth dimension we shift the focus somewhere else -- like maybe to that undersung sensor.
Thank you to CNET Senior Editor Josh Goldman, who contributed to this story.
To see which phones have the latest, all-time camera technology, bank check out our current list of the all-time camera phones.
Smartphones Unlocked is a monthly column that dives deep into the inner workings of your trusty smartphone.
Source: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/camera-megapixels-why-more-isnt-always-better-smartphones-unlocked/
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