Thread: Any examples of the pictures or video the N900 takes?
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drizek is offline drizek
2009-08-29 , 16:59
Posts: 214 | Thanked: 30 times | Joined on Jan 2008
#40
Originally Posted by christexaport View Post
Do you intend to try to convince anyone here that the 3mp camera in the iPhone is better than the 3mp camera in the 5800xm? That the iPhone camera at 3mp takes better quality photos than the N95 at 5mp? That the N95 is better than the N86 at 8mp? The fact of the matter is that although your first sentence is true in general purpose, there are many other factors that can influence image quality, such as the processing algorithms, the lens package, the physical size of the sensor, and other things.

I'd assume you've never had a flagship model Nseries phone in the last 5 years. They are THE leaders in cameraphone technology, with technology and patents shared with Kodak and Carl Zeiss as well, an unmatched combination you'll definitely change your mind about once you try one. This is the exact same camera module from the N97, so images should be similar in quality, i.e. excellent.
I didn't say that the iPhone camera was better, we haven't been able to compare them yet. What I was saying is that apples decision to go with 3mp instead of 5 was a good one. The E86 has a large sensor, basically the same as the one on a point n shoot. Still, the pictures are not as good as what you get from an 8mp canon, but they are definitely acceptable.

Post processing, storage, uploading photos is a huge issue on phones. They don't have dedicated image processing hardware, and they can't store and upload large file sizes. So when you have these large megapixel files, in order to be able to process and upload them efficiently you have to compromise quality for performance and then quality for file size. A smaller mp file can be better processed and stored with less compression while retaining the same or smaller file size.

The other thing you're somethat wrong about is color reproduction and sharpness. The higher resolution camera means the bayer RGB array is spread out through more pixels, so the 5Mpix cam *CAN* make FAR better (sharper and better colors) 1.3Mpix photo than a 1.3Mpix camera if it's implemented correctly. If it's crap, it's crap, but it's not the pixel COUNT that makes it crap (it's just a part of the equation).
Yes, it isn't pixel count, it is pixel density. Most phones have about the same sensor size though, so there isn't much difference in comparing count and density. Yes, it is true that a giant sensor with a ton of megapixels slooks better, but high pixel density does lead to a reduction in many aspects of picture quality. Most important is the addition of noise, but the other major issue is the reduction in dynamic range. Olympus SLRs had problems with dynamic range up until recently and this was at least in part due to them having a high pixel density than canon or nikon cameras. Of course, improvements in sensor design can overcome these issues, but for now, I would rather phone manufacturers kept mp counts down. Of course, we havent seen any pictures taken with the final device yet, so maybe it is better than what some of the pics that were taken down look like.