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#1
1. INTRODUCTION :
From Rs. 10,000 smartphones to Rs. 90,000, many manufacturers claim to have [/B]“Good to Very Good to DSLR like” Image Quality[/B]. Yet, many buyers show their dissatisfaction under “Buyer’s Reviews” in e-commerce websites. If they knew “WHAT to EXPECT”, they would not feel so bad. As recently I spent some time on Image Quality out of a Smartphone Camera, I have compiled ‘what I found’ in this thread. In the digital era, the “Lens, Image Sensor and Image Processing POWER” bundled in a Phone contribute to Image Quality. Let us see one by one.
2. The Lens :
Except a few, most Smartphone manufacturers don’t say anything about the Lens used. Generally, a group of tiny Lenses (like the 5 elements in iPhone Six) constitute a Lens. If Lens quality is less, it can affect the Image Quality, by way of “low Contrast, lack of Resolution, Vignetting, Soft images, Ghosting, Aberration etc”. Some Lens manufacturers follow certain processes to reduce the negative effect while some manufacturers add an element or two to correct errors inherent to given Lens.
A Lens with "specs like f/1.6, f/1.7 & f/1.8" lets more light in and thus allows faster shutter speeds; even if the photo subject (baby / pet) moved, a faster shutter speed can still catch the image without blurring. A Lens with OIS (optical image stabilisation) compensates the “hand shake / camera shake” and reduces blurring. These lenses are costly. You can expect quality Lenses in Smartphones above Rs. 25 K.
3. Image Sensors :
Most Sensors have a 4:3 aspect ratio. From top-to-bottom in the Table below, Sensor Size increases.
Expect better images from a Camera with larger Image Sensor. If “Lens is Good and the Sensor is adequately large”, more light will reach the Sensor. It is NOW up to the Pixels, to collect and store this light.
4. Mega Pixel Count :
Millions of tiny dots known as (Pixels) constitute a Sensor. A 10MP Sensor contains One Crore Pixels. The MORE the number of Pixels, the finer is the capacity of sensor to store DETAILS of Image. How much MORE is MORE ? 12 Mega Pixels are more than adequate on a Smartphone. Why ?
4.1 Viewing on TVs :
A 12 mega Pixel sensor has pixels arranged in 4000 columns x 3000 rows. That means, (4000/6.2 =) 645 Pixels per millimeter and (3000/4.6 =) 652 Pixels per mm are available along X & Y axes to Store this light info. A Full HD LED TV has 1920 x 1080 resolution. A 4K TV has 4096 x 2160 resolution. So there is NO problem in viewing images from a 12 MP camera on these TVs.
4.2 Mega Pixels and Print Sizes :
At 12 inches distance, human eye can distinguish 300 dots present within an inch; that is equal to (300 / 25.4 =) 12 dots or 12 pixels per mm. Here, the sensor has about 650 pixels per mm, which is (650/12 =) 54 times more (than 300 ppi). That means, if you take a photo using a 12MP camera and print it on 334mm by 334mm (= 54x6.2) size and view it at a foot away from your eyes, you will be able to see each and every detail CRISPLY. As the distance from eye increase, eyes will not be able to resolve those 12 dots per mm; So, one can spread every dot into 4 dots, and go for a four times larger size like a 4ft x 3ft photo hung on wall and viewed from 5-6 feet away. Due to the limitation of human eyes, the bigger photo will still look CRISP ;-)
5. Pixel Size:
Let’s take quantity two numbers of a standard 1/2.3” sensor. In one (Sony IMX400 Sensor), let us pack in 19.1 Mega Pixels; size of EACH Pixel is 1.22 microns. In the 2nd 1/2.3” sensor (Sony IMX380), let us pack in only 12.3 Mega Pixels; size of EACH Pixel grows by 27% to 1.55 microns. This pixel will collect 27% more light and the photo will have lesser noise.
5.1. Pixel Size used in Smartphone Cams :
Pixel size in the Table above ranges from 1.00 microns to 1.55 microns. Let us take a closer look:
1.0 micron in most Budget Phones
1.22 microns in both “iPhone 8+ and OPO6”
1.40 microns in “Zenfone 5Z, Mi Mix 2S, Mi-8, , Google Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9+”
1.55 microns in “Google Pixel XL, Powershot SX 730HS”. This Pixel size is 27% increase over the pixel in iPhone 8+
5.2. Pixel Size in DSLR Cams :
3.91 microns in 24 MP APS-C Cameras like “D5500, D750, Sony Alpha 5100, Alpha 6500 etc”.
4.78 microns in 16 MP APS-C Cameras like “my NEX-5R, D5100, D7000, etc”.
5.97 microns in 24 MP Full-Frame cameras like “D600, D750, Alpha 7-II etc”.
Decades of research, yet the APS-C Camera Image Quality CAN’T match that of Full-Frame Camera. And they tell me that iPhone 8 plus can take photos with DSLR quality. Heh Heh Heh Heh ;-)
6. Image Processing POWER – the Heavy Weight Lifting :
Smartphone OEMs tune their Image Processing Software so much to make photos look appealing. “Digital Enhancing” done by photographers in a Computer using “Photoshop” type software, are automatically done by the Smartphone, without you knowing it.
For this, the smartphone’s hardware like CPU, GPU, RAM, etc also do the heavy lifting. A System on Chip (SoC) like Snapdragon 845, has “Image Signal Processor (to handle multiple Frame rates, Mega Pixels, Noise Reduction, Autofocussing, face detection, Video Capturing, etc) and Digital Signal Processor (for Artificial Intelligence Processing) and what not !!! THIS to a large extent compensates for the “lack firepower in both the Lens and Sensor Departments”. But cannot compensate fully.
Actually, THIS processing hardware is the Achilles’ Heel for an entry level DSLR, as compared to a Flagship Phone. Have you heard of 4GB RAM and 64 GB storage in a DSLR ? The defense rests the case, my Lord.
7. Doing Low Light Photography correctly :
Most users complain about poor photos in low light. If the smartphone has a "Manual Mode", it helps get better photos than the Auto mode does. There is NO guarantee on this, if you do not know how to take low light photos. Go thro this (link). Your complaints will come down.
8. How to check Image Quality before buying ?
Reputed websites like “dxomark, dpreview, gsmarena (link), theverge” etc concentrate on testing a Smartphone’s Camera extensively. They know how to test a camera and you can trust them. I consult dxomark website (link) regularly, for their in-depth analysis, sample photos and ratings. Their review helped me chose Zenfone 5Z, Asus’s latest Flagship which got a score of 90 (OnePlus Six got a score of 96).
9. What next for Smartphone Cameras ?
Many budget and midrange Smartphones come with “Dual Cameras – Main and Telephoto”. Little higher up are those with “Main Cam and Monochrome sensor” and “Main Cam and Wide angle”. Now Huawei has come up with Triple Cameras in its P20 Pro.
Currently a company by the name “Light” has put “sixteen small 13 MP sensors” with sixteen tiny lenses “covering focal lengths 28mm to 150mm” in a single metal body (link).
For a single shot, minimum 10 sensors are put to use, and then their output are combined to give the final image. It comes in a current gen smartphone size but with old Nokia phone thickness :-) It even has a 5 inch FHD touchscreen, Type-C USB Connector, and 256 GB storage.
What is more interesting is, this “Light L16” model runs on Android OS and has a Snapdragon 820 processor (plus a dedicated processing Chip). Currently there are mixed views on the Image Quality from L16. They will fine tune it soon.
I feel most Camera and Smartphone manufacturer could be working on to take this idea further to revolutionize Smartphone Cameras.
10. Conclusion :
Digital Cameras at less than Rs. 15K : They will be most likely beaten hands down by Flagship grade Smartphones. Few mid-range Smartphones might give them tough fight.
Digital Cameras in Rs. 15-20K range : A Flagship Smartphone will beat them. Few mid-range Smartphones might match them up to 80-90%.
Digital Cameras in Rs. 20-25 K range : Flagship Smartphones might come close to matching Image quality. Mid-range phones might match them up to 60-75 %
DSLR : Though it can take impressive photos even in low light, a Flagship phone cannot hold a candle to even an entry level DSLR.
When you buy a Flagship phone, remember THIS. You will not feel disappointed with its Camera.
Before signing off, let us just see the difference in image quality between a mid-range and flagship smartphone. Given below are photos from my earlier Xiaomi Mi A1 and my latest flagship Zenfone 5Z. Both use 12MP sensors in main Cameras. Both photos were taken in forenoon, in the Manual Modes. You can easily guess the one from the Flagship![[;)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
From Rs. 10,000 smartphones to Rs. 90,000, many manufacturers claim to have [/B]“Good to Very Good to DSLR like” Image Quality[/B]. Yet, many buyers show their dissatisfaction under “Buyer’s Reviews” in e-commerce websites. If they knew “WHAT to EXPECT”, they would not feel so bad. As recently I spent some time on Image Quality out of a Smartphone Camera, I have compiled ‘what I found’ in this thread. In the digital era, the “Lens, Image Sensor and Image Processing POWER” bundled in a Phone contribute to Image Quality. Let us see one by one.
2. The Lens :
Except a few, most Smartphone manufacturers don’t say anything about the Lens used. Generally, a group of tiny Lenses (like the 5 elements in iPhone Six) constitute a Lens. If Lens quality is less, it can affect the Image Quality, by way of “low Contrast, lack of Resolution, Vignetting, Soft images, Ghosting, Aberration etc”. Some Lens manufacturers follow certain processes to reduce the negative effect while some manufacturers add an element or two to correct errors inherent to given Lens.
A Lens with "specs like f/1.6, f/1.7 & f/1.8" lets more light in and thus allows faster shutter speeds; even if the photo subject (baby / pet) moved, a faster shutter speed can still catch the image without blurring. A Lens with OIS (optical image stabilisation) compensates the “hand shake / camera shake” and reduces blurring. These lenses are costly. You can expect quality Lenses in Smartphones above Rs. 25 K.
3. Image Sensors :
Most Sensors have a 4:3 aspect ratio. From top-to-bottom in the Table below, Sensor Size increases.
Expect better images from a Camera with larger Image Sensor. If “Lens is Good and the Sensor is adequately large”, more light will reach the Sensor. It is NOW up to the Pixels, to collect and store this light.
4. Mega Pixel Count :
Millions of tiny dots known as (Pixels) constitute a Sensor. A 10MP Sensor contains One Crore Pixels. The MORE the number of Pixels, the finer is the capacity of sensor to store DETAILS of Image. How much MORE is MORE ? 12 Mega Pixels are more than adequate on a Smartphone. Why ?
4.1 Viewing on TVs :
A 12 mega Pixel sensor has pixels arranged in 4000 columns x 3000 rows. That means, (4000/6.2 =) 645 Pixels per millimeter and (3000/4.6 =) 652 Pixels per mm are available along X & Y axes to Store this light info. A Full HD LED TV has 1920 x 1080 resolution. A 4K TV has 4096 x 2160 resolution. So there is NO problem in viewing images from a 12 MP camera on these TVs.
4.2 Mega Pixels and Print Sizes :
At 12 inches distance, human eye can distinguish 300 dots present within an inch; that is equal to (300 / 25.4 =) 12 dots or 12 pixels per mm. Here, the sensor has about 650 pixels per mm, which is (650/12 =) 54 times more (than 300 ppi). That means, if you take a photo using a 12MP camera and print it on 334mm by 334mm (= 54x6.2) size and view it at a foot away from your eyes, you will be able to see each and every detail CRISPLY. As the distance from eye increase, eyes will not be able to resolve those 12 dots per mm; So, one can spread every dot into 4 dots, and go for a four times larger size like a 4ft x 3ft photo hung on wall and viewed from 5-6 feet away. Due to the limitation of human eyes, the bigger photo will still look CRISP ;-)
5. Pixel Size:
Let’s take quantity two numbers of a standard 1/2.3” sensor. In one (Sony IMX400 Sensor), let us pack in 19.1 Mega Pixels; size of EACH Pixel is 1.22 microns. In the 2nd 1/2.3” sensor (Sony IMX380), let us pack in only 12.3 Mega Pixels; size of EACH Pixel grows by 27% to 1.55 microns. This pixel will collect 27% more light and the photo will have lesser noise.
5.1. Pixel Size used in Smartphone Cams :
Pixel size in the Table above ranges from 1.00 microns to 1.55 microns. Let us take a closer look:
1.0 micron in most Budget Phones
1.22 microns in both “iPhone 8+ and OPO6”
1.40 microns in “Zenfone 5Z, Mi Mix 2S, Mi-8, , Google Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9+”
1.55 microns in “Google Pixel XL, Powershot SX 730HS”. This Pixel size is 27% increase over the pixel in iPhone 8+
5.2. Pixel Size in DSLR Cams :
3.91 microns in 24 MP APS-C Cameras like “D5500, D750, Sony Alpha 5100, Alpha 6500 etc”.
4.78 microns in 16 MP APS-C Cameras like “my NEX-5R, D5100, D7000, etc”.
5.97 microns in 24 MP Full-Frame cameras like “D600, D750, Alpha 7-II etc”.
Decades of research, yet the APS-C Camera Image Quality CAN’T match that of Full-Frame Camera. And they tell me that iPhone 8 plus can take photos with DSLR quality. Heh Heh Heh Heh ;-)
6. Image Processing POWER – the Heavy Weight Lifting :
Smartphone OEMs tune their Image Processing Software so much to make photos look appealing. “Digital Enhancing” done by photographers in a Computer using “Photoshop” type software, are automatically done by the Smartphone, without you knowing it.
For this, the smartphone’s hardware like CPU, GPU, RAM, etc also do the heavy lifting. A System on Chip (SoC) like Snapdragon 845, has “Image Signal Processor (to handle multiple Frame rates, Mega Pixels, Noise Reduction, Autofocussing, face detection, Video Capturing, etc) and Digital Signal Processor (for Artificial Intelligence Processing) and what not !!! THIS to a large extent compensates for the “lack firepower in both the Lens and Sensor Departments”. But cannot compensate fully.
Actually, THIS processing hardware is the Achilles’ Heel for an entry level DSLR, as compared to a Flagship Phone. Have you heard of 4GB RAM and 64 GB storage in a DSLR ? The defense rests the case, my Lord.
7. Doing Low Light Photography correctly :
Most users complain about poor photos in low light. If the smartphone has a "Manual Mode", it helps get better photos than the Auto mode does. There is NO guarantee on this, if you do not know how to take low light photos. Go thro this (link). Your complaints will come down.
8. How to check Image Quality before buying ?
Reputed websites like “dxomark, dpreview, gsmarena (link), theverge” etc concentrate on testing a Smartphone’s Camera extensively. They know how to test a camera and you can trust them. I consult dxomark website (link) regularly, for their in-depth analysis, sample photos and ratings. Their review helped me chose Zenfone 5Z, Asus’s latest Flagship which got a score of 90 (OnePlus Six got a score of 96).
9. What next for Smartphone Cameras ?
Many budget and midrange Smartphones come with “Dual Cameras – Main and Telephoto”. Little higher up are those with “Main Cam and Monochrome sensor” and “Main Cam and Wide angle”. Now Huawei has come up with Triple Cameras in its P20 Pro.
Currently a company by the name “Light” has put “sixteen small 13 MP sensors” with sixteen tiny lenses “covering focal lengths 28mm to 150mm” in a single metal body (link).
For a single shot, minimum 10 sensors are put to use, and then their output are combined to give the final image. It comes in a current gen smartphone size but with old Nokia phone thickness :-) It even has a 5 inch FHD touchscreen, Type-C USB Connector, and 256 GB storage.
What is more interesting is, this “Light L16” model runs on Android OS and has a Snapdragon 820 processor (plus a dedicated processing Chip). Currently there are mixed views on the Image Quality from L16. They will fine tune it soon.
I feel most Camera and Smartphone manufacturer could be working on to take this idea further to revolutionize Smartphone Cameras.
10. Conclusion :
Digital Cameras at less than Rs. 15K : They will be most likely beaten hands down by Flagship grade Smartphones. Few mid-range Smartphones might give them tough fight.
Digital Cameras in Rs. 15-20K range : A Flagship Smartphone will beat them. Few mid-range Smartphones might match them up to 80-90%.
Digital Cameras in Rs. 20-25 K range : Flagship Smartphones might come close to matching Image quality. Mid-range phones might match them up to 60-75 %
DSLR : Though it can take impressive photos even in low light, a Flagship phone cannot hold a candle to even an entry level DSLR.
When you buy a Flagship phone, remember THIS. You will not feel disappointed with its Camera.
Before signing off, let us just see the difference in image quality between a mid-range and flagship smartphone. Given below are photos from my earlier Xiaomi Mi A1 and my latest flagship Zenfone 5Z. Both use 12MP sensors in main Cameras. Both photos were taken in forenoon, in the Manual Modes. You can easily guess the one from the Flagship
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