8 megapixels and front on. Megapixels in cameras don't matter that much, and here's why. Basic camera parameters in a smartphone

01.10.2021 Medicines 

RUB 4,990

Mobile phone Xiaomi Redmi Go 1/8GB blue

Video frequency 30 fps. For 2 SIM cards. With radio. Battery capacity 3000 mAh. Video resolution - 1920x1080. Memory card slot - microSD. Camera 8.0 Mpx. With Multitouch. Type - smartphone. SIM card type - nano SIM. Screen size 5.0 inches. With bluetooth. Touch screen type - capacitive. With mp3 player. With Wi-Fi. With a digital video camera. Screen resolution - 1280x720. With 4G LTE. Front camera 5 Mpx. With GPS. With auto-rotate screen. Type operating system- Android. With 3G. The case is classic. The size of the built-in memory is 8 Gb. Max. memory card capacity 128 GB. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Weight: 137 g. Dimensions 140.4x70.1x8.4 mm.

buy V online store video-shopper.ru

Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,989

Cell phone Prestigio Wize Q3 Black PSP3471DUOBLACK

With 5.0 inch (13 cm) screen. Screen resolution - 540x960. With built-in memory size 8 GB. Operating system type - Android. . Screen manufacturing technology - STN. With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 64 GB. Touch screen type - capacitive. 3G. Memory card slot - microSD. SIM card type - nano SIM. Multitouch. The case is classic. With a battery capacity of 2000mAh. With a 2 megapixel front camera. Wi-Fi. Bluetooth. Video recording. Type - smartphone. Radio. GPS. MP3 player. Dual SIM cards. Automatic screen orientation. With width: 65.2 mm. With thickness: 9.4 mm. With height: 136.0 mm. With weight: 137 g.

buy V online store Player.Ru

loan possible | Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,580

Smartphone Fly Life Mega Champagne

With mp3 player. With a digital video camera. Camera 8.0 Mpx. With 4G LTE. Screen size 5.7 inches. With Multitouch. With radio. Touch screen type - capacitive. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. With auto-rotate screen. Video resolution - 1280x720. Screen resolution - 1440x720. With 3G. Max. memory card capacity 32 GB. Memory card slot - microSD. SIM card type - micro + nano SIM. Operating system type - Android. Front camera 2 Mpx. Video frequency 30 fps. With GPS. The size of the built-in memory is 8 Gb. With Wi-Fi. The case is classic. For 2 SIM cards. Type - smartphone. With bluetooth. Battery capacity 2800 mAh. Weight: 178 g. Dimensions 155.4x75.0x9.3 mm.

buy V online store Electrozone

loan possible | Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,275

Smartphone Ark Zoji S12 1/8Gb Blue Zoji S12 8gb Blue

With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 32 GB. GPS. Operating system type - Android. The case is classic. Automatic screen orientation. With 8.0 megapixel camera. Screen resolution - 540x960. Type - smartphone. 3G. Multitouch. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Video recording. Wi-Fi. MP3 player. Bluetooth. SIM card type - micro SIM. Dual SIM cards. With built-in memory size 8 GB. With a battery capacity of 2750mAh. With 5.0 inch (13 cm) screen. With a 5 megapixel front camera. Touch screen type - capacitive. Memory card slot - microSD. With thickness: 9.0 mm. With height: 138.0 mm. With width: 65.0 mm. With weight: 159 g.

V online store TopComputer.RU

Pickup possible

photo

RUB 5,890

Smartphone Alcatel 3C 5026D Metalic Black MediaTek MT8321/-1GB/-16GB/-6.-0 1440x720/2 Sim/-3G/-BT/-8Mp+-5Mp/-Wi-Fi/-GPS/-Glonas/-Android 7.0 5026D-2AALRU1 (black)

With GPS. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. The size of the built-in memory is 16 Gb. The case is classic. Max. memory card capacity 128 GB. With mp3 player. Camera 8.0 Mpx. With Multitouch. With bluetooth. Touch screen type - capacitive. Screen resolution - 1440x720. Memory card slot - microSD. With a digital video camera. Front camera 5 Mpx. Type - smartphone. With Wi-Fi. With auto-rotate screen. For 2 SIM cards. SIM card type - nano SIM. Battery capacity 3000 mAh. Operating system type - Android. Screen size 6.0 inches. With 3G. With thickness: 8.0 mm. With height: 161.0 mm. With width: 76.0 mm. With weight: 169 g.

V online store Oldi.ru

photo

RUB 18,889

14% 21,990 rub.

Smartphone Apple iPhone 6 32GB Gold (MQ3E2RU/A)

EDGE. With a video frame rate of 60 fps. 3G. Video resolution - 1920x1080. With a battery capacity of 1810mAh. With built-in memory size of 32 GB. 4G LTE. With 8.0 megapixel camera. Screen resolution - 750x1334. Wi-Fi. Radio. GPS. Bluetooth. Automatic screen orientation. SIM card type - nano SIM. Video recording. With a 1 megapixel front camera. With a 4.7 inch (12 cm) screen. Operating system type - iOS. Touch screen type - capacitive. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Type - smartphone. Multitouch. MP3 player. The case is classic. Width: 67.0 mm. Height: 138.1 mm. Thickness: 6.9 mm. Weight: 129 g.

V online store Techline24

Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,570

Smartphone teXet TM-5071 Black (black)

Operating system type - Android. Screen resolution - 720x1280. With a digital video camera. Camera 8.0 Mpx. For 2 SIM cards. With 3G. The case is classic. Screen size 5.0 inches. With bluetooth. The size of the built-in memory is 8 Gb. Front camera 5 Mpx. With Multitouch. With mp3 player. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. With GPS. With auto-rotate screen. Touch screen type - capacitive. With Wi-Fi. Memory card slot - microSD. Battery capacity 4400 mAh. Type - smartphone. Max. memory card capacity 32 GB. With width: 78.6 mm. With thickness: 8.6 mm. With height: 156.7 mm. With weight: 181 g.

V online store formulatv

loan possible | Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 6,089

Cell phone OUKITEL C12 Plus Black

The case is classic. Radio. Bluetooth. Automatic screen orientation. With a battery capacity of 3500mAh. SIM card type - micro + nano SIM. Type - smartphone. With 8.0 megapixel camera. With a 5 megapixel front camera. Memory card slot - microSD. Video recording. 3G. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. With a 6.2 inch (16 cm) screen. Wi-Fi. GPS. Operating system type - Android. MP3 player. Dual SIM cards. Multitouch. 4G LTE. With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 64 GB. Touch screen type - capacitive. With built-in memory size of 16 GB. With height: 155.6 mm. With width: 76.0 mm. With thickness: 9.7 mm. With weight: 168 g.

V online store BOLTUN.RU

video review

540 rub.

10% 599 rub.

Mobile phone Jinga Simple f200n black (black)

Type - smartphone. Screen manufacturing technology - TFT. Camera 8.0 Mpx. Battery capacity 500 mAh. SIM card type - regular. Screen size 1.8 inches. The case is classic. For 2 SIM cards. Memory card slot - microSD. Max. memory card capacity 8 Gb. Weight: 41 g. Dimensions 113.0x46.0x12.2 mm.

V online store RBT.ru

Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 4,590

Mobile phone Xiaomi Redmi Go 1/8GB Global Version black (black)

GPS. Operating system type - Android. Bluetooth. With 8.0 megapixel camera. The case is classic. 4G LTE. Radio. With 5.0 inch (13 cm) screen. MP3 player. Multitouch. Dual SIM cards. Screen resolution - 1280x720. Wi-Fi. Automatic screen orientation. With built-in memory size 8 GB. SIM card type - nano SIM. Video recording. Type - smartphone. With a 5 megapixel front camera. Touch screen type - capacitive. With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 128 GB. 3G. With a video frame rate of 30 fps. Video resolution - 1920x1080. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Memory card slot - microSD. With a battery capacity of 3000mAh. With width: 70.1 mm. With thickness: 8.4 mm. With height: 140.4 mm. With weight: 137 g.

V online store video-shopper.ru

Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,447

Cell phone Irbis SP517 Black

The case is classic. With bluetooth. With mp3 player. Screen size 5.0 inches. Type - smartphone. With Wi-Fi. With a digital video camera. Camera 8.0 Mpx. Operating system type - Android. Screen resolution - 1280x720. With GPS. With 4G LTE. For 2 SIM cards. With Multitouch. With 3G. The size of the built-in memory is 8 Gb. With radio. Touch screen type - capacitive. Max. memory card capacity 32 GB. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Battery capacity 2000 mAh. With width: 72.2 mm. With height: 146.0 mm. With thickness: 9.2 mm. With weight: 155 g.

V online store Player.Ru

loan possible | Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,580

Smartphone Fly Life Mega Black

GPS. With built-in memory size 8 GB. Operating system type - Android. Video resolution - 1280x720. With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 32 GB. With 8.0 megapixel camera. With a 5.7 inch (14 cm) screen. Bluetooth. Video recording. Multitouch. With a 2 megapixel front camera. Type - smartphone. The case is classic. MP3 player. Wi-Fi. Radio. Dual SIM cards. 4G LTE. Touch screen type - capacitive. 3G. Automatic screen orientation. With a video frame rate of 30 fps. Screen resolution - 1440x720. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Memory card slot - microSD. SIM card type - micro + nano SIM. With a battery capacity of 2800mAh. Thickness: 9.3 mm. Height: 155.4 mm. Width: 75.0 mm. Weight: 178 g

V online store Electrozone

loan possible | Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,420

Smartphone Ark Zoji S12 1/8Gb Red

With a digital video camera. Camera 8.0 Mpx. Operating system type - Android. Front camera 5 Mpx. With GPS. With auto-rotate screen. Screen resolution - 540x960. Screen size 5.0 inches. For 2 SIM cards. With Multitouch. Battery capacity 2750 mAh. Type - smartphone. With 3G. The case is classic. With bluetooth. The size of the built-in memory is 8 Gb. SIM card type - micro SIM. Touch screen type - capacitive. Max. memory card capacity 32 GB. With mp3 player. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. With Wi-Fi. Memory card slot - microSD. With thickness: 9.0 mm. With width: 65.0 mm. With height: 138.0 mm. With weight: 159 g.

V online store TopComputer.RU

Pickup possible

photo

RUB 5,990

Smartphone Alcatel 3C 5026D Metalic Gold MediaTek MT8321/-1GB/-16GB/-6.-0 1440x720/2 Sim/-3G/-BT/-8Mp+-5Mp/-Wi-Fi/-GPS/-Glonas/-Android 7.0 5026D-2CALRU1 (golden)

GPS. SIM card type - nano SIM. Operating system type - Android. Bluetooth. Video recording. Multitouch. With 8.0 megapixel camera. Type - smartphone. The case is classic. MP3 player. Wi-Fi. Dual SIM cards. With a 5 megapixel front camera. With a 6.0 inch (15 cm) screen. Touch screen type - capacitive. With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 128 GB. 3G. Automatic screen orientation. With built-in memory size of 16 GB. Screen resolution - 1440x720. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. Memory card slot - microSD. With a battery capacity of 3000mAh. With thickness: 8.0 mm. With width: 76.0 mm. With height: 161.0 mm. With weight: 169 g.

V online store Oldi.ru

photo

RUB 3,570

Smartphone teXet TM-5071 Blue (blue)

With a digital video camera. Camera 8.0 Mpx. Operating system type - Android. Front camera 5 Mpx. With GPS. With auto-rotate screen. Screen size 5.0 inches. For 2 SIM cards. With Multitouch. Type - smartphone. With 3G. The case is classic. With bluetooth. The size of the built-in memory is 8 Gb. Touch screen type - capacitive. Battery capacity 4400 mAh. Max. memory card capacity 32 GB. With mp3 player. Screen resolution - 720x1280. Screen manufacturing technology - S-IPS. With Wi-Fi. Memory card slot - microSD. Weight: 181 g. Dimensions 156.7x78.6x8.6 mm.

V online store formulatv

loan possible | Pickup possible

video reviewphoto

RUB 3,489

Smartphone Prestigio Wize q3 3471 black (black)

With 5.0 inch (13 cm) screen. GPS. With built-in memory size 8 GB. SIM card type - nano SIM. Operating system type - Android. Screen resolution - 540x960. With 8.0 megapixel camera. Bluetooth. Video recording. Multitouch. With a 2 megapixel front camera. Type - smartphone. The case is classic. MP3 player. With a battery capacity of 2000mAh. Wi-Fi. Radio. Dual SIM cards. With a maximum supported memory card capacity of 64 GB. Touch screen type - capacitive. 3G. Automatic screen orientation. Memory card slot - microSD. Screen manufacturing technology - STN. With height: 136.0 mm. With thickness: 9.4 mm. With width: 65.2 mm. With weight: 137 g.

doesn't believe in increasing megapixels. As we saw with the iPhone 7, the 12MP camera is significantly better in quality than the 20MP cameras of its competitors. We've seen the amazing dual lens cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus, and we're hoping to see something exciting with iPhone 8. iPhone 8 camera how many megapixels? How much has it increased?

  • 16 MP main F/1.7 aperture
  • 8 MP front camera
  • Dual Lens for iPhone 8+

This time, the company is going to take the camera features to the next level. At Apple iPhone 8 There will be a 16 MP main camera with an upgraded F/1.7 lens to improve image quality even in low light conditions. The phone also supports 4K recording.

Talking about the front camera of the iPhone, it will have an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, HDR, panorama, face recognition features. And this time, Apple may bring an iris scanner or facial recognition. What to do if it doesn’t find the network, doesn’t see the network.

Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus: camera

  • Iris or facial recognition for iPhone 8

The iPhone 7 has a 12-megapixel camera on the back, while the iPhone 7 Plus has dual 12-megapixel cameras, one wide-angle and the other telephoto.

The iPhone 8 Plus will have a dual-lens camera, while the iPhone 8 will not have a dual-lens camera. However, the new 5-inch models will be equipped dual camera, but will be in vertical format, not horizontal, as it is now.

According to Bloomberg, the iPhone 8 will offer “more advanced cameras,” so we can expect an improvement and the iPhone 8 will have the best camera on the market.

Conclusion:

With the advent of 2-megapixel matrices in mobile phones, cameras have ceased to be a worthless toy, their quality has become acceptable. Subsequent modules of 3.2 and 5 megapixels improved picture quality, but there was no fundamental breakthrough. The next round of the arms race leads to 8-megapixel CMOS matrices, and here Samsung is the main player. Surprisingly, the company benefits from the sale of any phone with a similar matrix this year, because it is their largest manufacturer. So, in Sony Ericsson The C905 uses a module from Samsung, although it is a cheaper version, while the company will install a more expensive version in its devices.


Having played with the two models for a short time, I can say that the initial prototypes of the Sony Ericsson C905 are not inferior to the Samsung i8510 INNOV8 in terms of image quality. Literally at the time of writing this material, a pre-commercial version of the C905 with the final camera module and the corresponding drivers fell into our hands. It is difficult to fully assess the changes, since there is no previous prototype, but subjectively the picture seemed a little brighter, but with fewer details. I would like to emphasize that these are different photographs, and everything can only be connected with different shooting conditions. I think we will prepare material with an assessment of the photographic component separately. The purpose of this material is to tell a little about the appearance of modern photographic flagships, to evaluate the quality of their assembly, the difference in the approaches of the companies. For example, I am curious to listen to nonsense statements that the build quality of the Sony Ericsson C905 is many times better than that of a Samsung phone. Moreover, such an assessment is made based on photographs of a device from Samsung, which has never been held in hands.


Camera modules are getting larger, hence the increasing thickness of phones. For example, INNOV8 made the camera bezel protruding, but the overall thickness of the body is 16.9 mm. The phone size is 106.5x53.9x16.9 mm, the stated weight is 95 grams, the actual weight is 124 grams. Samsung's approach lately to indicate the weight of the phone is unusual. Intimidating competitors so that they don’t find out the real characteristics; as a result, specially introduced “errors” find their way into official press releases and become a given. Although they are clearly wrong.





The size of the C905 is 104x49x18 mm, in the upper part, where the camera module is, the device is evenly thickened to 19.5 mm. The weight of the phone is 136 grams. Having used both models, I can note that both are not miniature, but in the C905 the slider mechanism is worse, and the materials used are not as durable or of high quality. Velvety plastic, completely similar to what was seen in the Sony Ericsson K800i, although here it is blue; there are other color options. The metal in INNOV8 is more captivating, the build quality is the same, but metal case wins immediately. There is a feeling of reliability, plus a pleasant coldness in the hand coupled with heaviness.


In no way can I say that the C905 is poorly assembled; it has the usual assembly from Sony Ericsson. The automatic adjustment mechanism is tight, which makes the device unfavorably different from Samsung. In INNOV8 the halves slide easily and naturally, in C905 they open with little effort. The problem is not in the mechanism, but in the design. The upper half of the slider is made thin compared to the main part of the device. So a slight misalignment occurs; additional force is required to open. Samsung tried to avoid this from the start.

The skew of the lower half of the slider in the C905 is generally a flaw in the ergonomics; typing SMS on the fly is not very convenient. This moment seemed relatively controversial to me on the phone. But rear end The device beats Samsung in literally everything. Matte lens cover, true Sony Style. The camera trigger mechanism does not always work when opened - a bug in the prototypes.



In my opinion, the design of the panel in Samsung is simpler and worse, there is a camera bezel and a sliding curtain, like once in the Sony Ericsson S700, but, however, the opening is automatic. What makes the devices similar is the slider for switching shooting modes; in the C905 these are two separate keys. Video is traditionally a weak point in the product from Sony Ericsson: only QVGA with a frequency of up to 30 frames per second. In Samsung with the same frequency, the resolution is VGA, in QVGA - up to 120 frames. The reason for this is the built-in 3D accelerator that works with the camera; in the C905 the processor is responsible for processing images; it is typical for A200 products and is less powerful, hence other image processing algorithms that are more economical in terms of resources. A lot of work has been done in terms of saving processor and computing power in the C905.



The ergonomics of these solutions when shooting are comparable, there is almost no difference. So on so. Some things are better in one device, some in another. On Samsung's side is the fact that this is a smartphone based on the S60 platform of the third edition with a number of proprietary improvements of the company that cannot be found in products from Nokia. We will talk about this separately in a review of another device, which will appear on the site soon.

Technically, Samsung's product is a cut above, and the reason is not only the device's Symbian roots. More expensive camera module, comparable image quality in all modes (let's play along with the C905 and assume that the images are comparable, but this is not the case). The screen is 2.8 inches versus 2.4 inches in the C905. The GPS function is comparable in both cases, only in Samsung you can install various navigation programs, in C905 you are limited to the initial choice, no free options, strictly tied to WayFinder.

There is almost parity in memory cards – traditionally M2 in the C905, microSD in a product from Samsung. True, INNOV8 will be produced in two versions - with 8 GB and 16 GB memory; the second configuration implies, in addition to a larger volume, also additional case, availability of desktop charger. A kind of premium packaging, similar to that of the Samsung OMNIA 16 GB.

The sound quality in the C905 is typical for the brand, average, there are no improvements. At the same time, Samsung tried for the first time to create a monster that not only takes pictures well, but also plays music. Loud stereo speakers, plus proprietary DNSe (Digital Natural Sound engine) technology, based on the use of a dedicated processor for sound processing. The quality of music playback is subjectively better than in current music solutions from Samsung.

As a final touch, I note that the 3D accelerator is also responsible for video processing (DivX, AVI as a container, H.264). Most films on the device can be easily played without additional conversion; the device can easily handle “heavy” files. In C905 this is not possible, it is required preliminary preparation files, their conversion.

The Samsung i8510 INNOV8 will appear on the market in early September, the cost for the younger 8 GB version in Russia is about 26,000 rubles (700 Euros), for the older one - about 31,000 rubles (810 Euros). In mid-October or towards the end, the C905 appears, its price at the start of sales will be about 21,000 rubles. The difference in price is justified - it really wins in all respects technical specifications INNOV8, plus offers comparable or best quality shooting. For once, Samsung was able to make a leading photo solution and bring it to the market before other players. Nokia is still preparing its answer, the model is extremely interesting, but, apparently, it will begin to be sold at the end of the year, not earlier.

In the case of Sony Ericsson, we again find ourselves in the grip of stereotypes. Previously, the company delayed the release of the K850i, not considering the expensive Nokia N95 a threat to itself. Now the bet is on a cost that is lower than that of a direct competitor. But in this price group, the difference of 140-150 Euros is no longer critical; these are expensive products in the “600 Euros plus” class. It turns out that the dynamics of price reduction for Sony Ericsson C905 will be positive, this is great, since we will receive a relatively inexpensive device in about a year. After this period, the model will become extremely profitable to purchase, unless Nokia decides to torpedo it, like the Sony Ericsson K850i. Competition in the market is becoming more and more interesting, and the consumer benefits from it.


P.S. This material is not a review, not an article, but just a sketch, thoughts about two devices and what is happening in the field of photographic solutions. Full reviews will be coming soon.

A 16-megapixel camera on a smartphone sounds great, but an 8-megapixel camera often takes better photos. Technologies allowed companies to equip all their flagships with stronger cameras last year, but for some reason this did not happen. Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC Droid DNA, BlackBerry Z10 And iPhone 5, all gadgets are nestled on a cozy eight-megapixel bar.

The picture quality of these smartphones is very high, and much better than some devices with a large number of pixels. What's the matter? Let's figure it out.
Megapixels are not a guarantee of the quality of your photos, this is the first thing you need to understand. The formula for getting fantastic photos is much more complicated. This includes the weight of the camera module, lens material, light sensor, image processing hardware, software, connecting all components together and much more. If you can add something else to this list, then most likely this article is not for you. Well, newcomers, welcome.

Sensor

Most beginner and professional photographers will tell you that the most important element in an optical system is the sensor that reflects the light. No light - no photos.

Light enters the camera lens and the sensor receives the information and converts it into an electronic signal. The image processor takes the signal and creates an image, which is by no means final. All photographic imperfections, such as noise, are visible here. Therefore, the size of the image capture sensor is extremely important. In simple terms, the larger the sensor, the greater the number of pixels, and the more pixels, the more light you can get.

Many experts like to draw a rather colorful analogy of the relationship between pixels and sensors with “buckets of water.”
Imagine you have buckets (pixels) placed on asphalt (sensor). You want to collect as much water in these buckets as possible, as much as possible. It turns out that the more buckets (pixels) you can place on the asphalt (sensor), the more water (light) will get into them.

As you may have already noticed, increasing the number of pixels installed on a limited sensor size does not lead to improved photo quality. It is necessary to enlarge the sensor itself, which will have a bad effect on ergonomics mobile phones and, of course, increasing costs.

The relationship between the number of pixels and the physical size of the sensor is precisely why some 8-megapixel cameras can outperform their 12-, 13-, or even 16-megapixel counterparts.

Unfortunately, most camera manufacturers do not disclose the full list of characteristics of their devices, much less indicate such “little things” as the width of the sensor. And think about it, even if they did this, how many users would understand these incomprehensible terms?

Image processing

The image processor is equally important for creating high-quality photographs. Most modern smartphones have a graphics processor installed that handles all multimedia tasks of the device. Whether it's photos, videos or even games, processing is done without the load on the central processor, which significantly affects the performance of the smartphone.

The image processor helps achieve (or at least get close to) zero delay between the shutter being released and the resulting image being captured. At last year's Mobile World, company HTC advertised the latest discrete image processor for a family of phones HTC One , called ImageChip. The processor could process photos at the highest speed, the delay between shots was only 0.7 seconds!

Also, do not forget about graphic functions devices. The algorithms embedded in the processor create the final appearance of the image on the phone screen. Determining color, photograph clarity, noise reduction - all this happens at this stage.

Increasingly, some phone makers such as HTC and Samsung are including additional features in their high-end phones, such as detecting people's smiles and faces. All this is also the work of the electronics placed in our smartphones.

What's the result?

But let's return to our pixels. Currently, users pay more attention to convenience and speed of shooting. Quickly taking a smartphone out of your pocket, armed with a really high-quality camera, and taking a photo worthy of your home collection becomes a more pleasant procedure than waiting for a fancy DSLR to turn on. And carrying your phone with you is much easier and more convenient.

Don't chase the number of megapixels on smartphones. Having studied all the ins and outs and understood all the subtleties, you can choose a really good option.

Most recently, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S3, the long-awaited “successor” to the Galaxy S2. The Ice Cream Sandwich-powered smartphone with a quad-core processor caused a stir among Android fans, but the 8-megapixel camera was not cool enough for some. This is partly due to rumors that the Galaxy S3 will be equipped with 12 megapixels, and partly to the achievements of competitors: for example, the HTC Titan II has a 16-megapixel camera, and the 808 PureView from Nokia has a 41-megapixel camera! It is not surprising that with such indicators the device made a splash at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Although 8 megapixels can be called the standard for modern smartphones, many consider a camera with such indicators to be yesterday. However, a 5-megapixel camera may be better than an 8-megapixel camera, it's just that "five" doesn't sound as good as "eight" to buyers, even if the camera takes amazing photos. And if “eight” sounds good, then “twelve” is even better. The trick is (as anyone who knows photography will tell you), the number of megapixels on its own doesn't tell you much about how good a camera will take pictures. For example, the Samsung Focus with five megapixels takes good photos, but the Motorola Droid Razr with eight is disappointing. The iPhone 4's 5-megapixel camera is better than many 8-megapixel cameras and is particularly impressive in low light.

What is the formula for the ideal smartphone camera? It includes the characteristics of the entire camera module as a whole: not only the size of the lenses and the material from which they are made, but also the light sensor, image processor, and the software that ties it all together.

Key Ingredient: Matrix

Most experienced photographers will tell you that the sensor (or sensor) is one of the key parts of an optical system because it is what captures light. Essentially, the matrix for a digital camera is an analogue of the material from which the film is made for an analog one. No light - no photo.

Light passes through the camera lens and is intercepted by a matrix, which converts it into an electronic signal. From it, the image processor creates an image, which is then corrected to eliminate typical photo flaws, for example, to remove noise. The size of the matrix matters: the larger it is, the more pixels it has, and the more pixels, the more light the matrix will be able to capture.

Experts describe the relationship between megapixels and image quality very colorfully. Their favorite image is buckets of water. Imagine that you have buckets (pixels) on asphalt (matrix). You want to collect as much water as possible in these buckets. Let's try to expand the “water and buckets” analogy: the larger the piece of asphalt entrusted to you, the more buckets (pixels) you can put on it and the more water (light) you will collect. The larger sensor is the reason why 8 megapixels in a DSLR is better than 10 in a smartphone. The number of pixels may be the same, but in an “adult” camera they will be over a larger area and will be able to collect more light. And more light usually means less noise and a wider dynamic range.

Problems with megapixels

Now it should be clear to you that the desire to cram as many pixels into the matrix as possible is wrong, since it does not directly lead to improved photo quality. John Erenson, an analyst at Gartner, remembers when the mobile phone industry made the leap from one megapixel to two. “They made the pixels smaller to cram more into the sensor, but the dimensions remained the same,” he says, also using the water analogy, but replacing buckets with wells.

You remember that light enters the wells, that is, it is captured by the photosensitive parts of the matrix. So if you make the wells shallower, it becomes harder for light to reach the light-sensitive parts. So what's the result? The noise increases. Thus, increasing the resolution is not justified.

The relationship between the number of megapixels and the physical size of the sensor is the reason why some 8-megapixel cameras are worse than 5-megapixel cameras. You can't increase the size of the sensor found inside thin smartphones; they cram more smaller pixels onto it, which ultimately captures less light than you could get with a lower resolution.

Unfortunately, most smartphone manufacturers do not provide information such as sensor size, so it is impossible to predict how a camera will behave by knowing only the number of megapixels, all that remains is testing.

What about Nokia's 41-megapixel PureView?

The PureView with its 41MP camera is really interesting. According to Juha Alakarhu, head of photography technology at Nokia, although the device is designed to capture up to 41 megapixels, most users see 5-megapixel photos.

Typically, when you use digital zoom, you crop the image and zoom in on every pixel. At the same time, noise and graininess “come out”, clarity and colors suffer. Nokia uses an algorithm called oversampling. With Nokia PureView's default 5-megapixel resolution, it consolidates the information captured by seven megapixels into one. They call it "superpixel". When you zoom, you simply see part of the image already captured by the sensor. This method should result in digital images suitable for printing at higher resolutions than we are used to.

It took five years to develop the technology for PureView. The device has a fairly large sensor, approximately 2.7x3 cm, which is larger than other smartphones and even some point-and-shoot cameras, and also has special image processing algorithms that suppress noise.

Key Ingredient Number Two: Image Processor

The image processor plays important role along with lenses and matrix. Most high-end smartphones have GPUs built into the chip. Thanks to hardware acceleration, they allow you to generate images (when taking photographs, shooting and watching videos, while playing games) without loading the main processor.

At Mobile World Congress, HTC demonstrated the HTC ImageChip, a dedicated graphics processor for the HTC One family of smartphones that allows you to take bursts of photos at 0.7-second intervals. The chip built into HTC One V, HTC One S and HTC One X provides these three devices, which differ significantly from each other in other respects, with equally high quality photography. A separate, non-integrated processor explains how HTC was able to provide identical photography parameters to the global version of the HTC One X with Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor and the US version with Qualcomm's Snapdagon S4.

The image processor is also responsible for ensuring that the camera's shutter operates without delay, capturing the exact moment you press the button. Basically, the processor is responsible for what comes out of the light collected by the sensor and processed into an electronic signal, and what you see on the phone screen. Note that this is one of the most subjective moments in photography: the assessment of the result depends on how exactly your eyes perceive clarity, color rendition, etc.

And that's not all

Smartphone manufacturers are increasingly integrating backlit displays into their products. It is believed that this type of sensor performs particularly well in low light, meaning it is associated with high light sensitivity. However, in bright light it can spoil the image.

The size of the sensor and the quality of the image processor are key elements in how good the photos come out, but other components of the camera module are also important - namely their quality. Better quality parts should provide best photos, but at the same time they also increase the price of the camera module. According to analysts, the use of high-quality parts leads to a doubling of the price of the camera, and it is clear that not all manufacturers agree to this.

Convenience comes first

Despite the fact that the quality of photographs is influenced by the physical parameters of the camera module described above, it cannot be denied that the most important thing for users is the overall impression - how convenient it will be for them to take pictures, how long it takes the camera to “wake up”, whether interesting effects and modes are provided shooting and just “baubles”. HTC, for example, equips some of its devices with the Amaze 4G function, which automatically detects smiles and selects from a series of photos those that it considers the most successful. Samsung's Galaxy S3 will also offer similar features.

For many users, the ability to conveniently share photos is no less important than the number of megapixels. It’s no wonder that the Instagram program, which allows you to publish photos that don’t shine with quality on the Internet, has gained incredible popularity. To post pictures on Facbook and Google+, which is what most fans of smartphone photography do (some also send them to friends and relatives by mail), eight megapixels, or even five, are enough to spare.

Of course, this does not mean that the number of megapixels when choosing a smartphone, if it is important to you good camera, should be ignored. It’s just that the importance of this indicator is greatly exaggerated - there are other factors that are worth paying attention to. And before buying, you should definitely test the camera in action or at least read reviews.

Based on materials:CNet