Flashback: the second megapixel race

02 October 2022
We thought those days were behind us - the aren't. Smartphone makers are once again in a heated competition to put out the phone with the highest resolution camera.

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SpongeBob, 03 Oct 2022This megapixel race is the worst thing to happen to smartph... morei very much agree. even entry level devices can add 50mp or maybe 64mp while the chipset or gpu couldnt even process it😂😂

    as people said:
    "more megapixels = better image"🤪🤪🤪

      • b
      • blue
      • Mx6
      • 03 Oct 2022

      Anonymous, 02 Oct 2022No? LOL 48MP bayer > 48MP quadbayer 48MP bayer &g... moreAnd yet the result is all the same. Today maybe even much better.

        • d
        • derrr
        • 2xJ
        • 03 Oct 2022

        Anonymous, 03 Oct 2022Apple and Samsung will never spend money on better lenses. ... more
        Not a true statement. Apple does use glass in their flagship mobiles...Samsung I am not sure but they did years ago as I can attest to their shattering on my note.

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          • Anonymous
          • K1L
          • 03 Oct 2022

          Anonymous, 03 Oct 2022Apple and Samsung will never spend money on better lenses. ... moreThat's why Vivo X80 Pro Zeiss T* lens and Oppo Find X5 Pro have better lens flare reduction as compared to iPhone 13/14 Pro Max.

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            • Anonymous
            • K1L
            • 03 Oct 2022

            Xiaomi in 2019: Midrange phone get 2 telephoto lens!
            Xiaomi in 2022: Take this crap 2mp macro lens or leave it

              Anonymous, 03 Oct 2022By the way, one problem I can think of in a PureView style ... moreIt's the reason why we now have the likes of Vivo V1/V1+, Oppo MariSilicon X, and Huawei XMAGE. There are certain areas in smartphone photography where the SoC's built-in ISP cannot do the job. I won't be surprised if we'll see a new custom ISP chip that can give the ability to do 8K/30fps video recording across all three or four rear cameras simply because there is no current Snapdragon or Dimensity SoC capable of doing so.

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                • Anonymous
                • pLi
                • 03 Oct 2022

                Anonymous, 03 Oct 2022By the way, one problem I can think of in a PureView style ... more*38mp, not 50mp for 808

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                  • Anonymous
                  • pLi
                  • 03 Oct 2022

                  By the way, one problem I can think of in a PureView style binning (or dowscaling) is slow image stacking aka HDR+, since the default output from sensor is very large (unlike multi bayer where default output is just 12mp even if there are 200million pixels, lol).
                  Imagine stacking 50mp images for HDR+, that's gonna take some time. Only way to solve it to use dedicated image processor for real time image stacking and downscaling.
                  Nokia 808 pureview had Broadcom BCM2763 for downscaling 50mp RAW images. It certainly didn't do image stacking though, but today it's important to do for proper dynamic range and other benefits

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                    • Anonymous
                    • pLi
                    • 03 Oct 2022

                    S Yu, 02 Oct 2022It currently doesn't, but it does have the potential. ... moreWhy create a problem and then make a clumsy solution at best? Even if they "correct" diffraction related distortion, it still doesn't take away the facts that:
                    1. Bigger pixels produce better results.
                    2. Any such AI correction can only go far and can't reproduce the lost, original data/signal.
                    So how about not even creating the problem? They should stop making smaller and smaller pixels just to fit more of them in tiny smartphone sensors for marketing purposes.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • pLi
                      • 03 Oct 2022

                      Anonymous, 02 Oct 2022Supply chain Of?

                        AnonD-1001048, 02 Oct 2022I have had the Nokia 808 Pureview. I used a few flagship ph... moreCouldn't agree more. That is why I still use my Microsoft Lumia 950 as my mobile photography gear despite owning a newer Android smartphone. To this day, I still don't find a single Android smartphone that can truly surpass its realistic true-to-life photo quality.

                        I can agree about Night Mode. That does show the advancement in smartphone photography since it involves HDR stacking.

                          MGW, 02 Oct 2022I think that pixel size and aperture race will soon join in... moreThe pixel size race is already going on. What we need to see from future smartphone cameras is variable aperture. With smartphone sensors getting larger all the way up to 1", the depth of field is getting shallower. The last thing you want to see is unwanted bokeh from a certain subject in focus because of a fixed aperture. Having the ability to natively adjust the aperture from the lens itself will be the right solution. AI/ML software trickery won't do the job.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • xHY
                            • 03 Oct 2022

                            Anonymous, 02 Oct 2022No? LOL 48MP bayer > 48MP quadbayer 48MP bayer &g... moreSomeone got the right idea. 👍

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                              • Anonymous
                              • Lkg
                              • 03 Oct 2022

                              SpongeBob, 03 Oct 2022This megapixel race is the worst thing to happen to smartph... moreApple and Samsung will never spend money on better lenses.
                              Will never use glass elements.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • xHY
                                • 03 Oct 2022

                                Anonymous, 02 Oct 2022interested on that, too... i have a current blind photo sho... moreMay I know where to see your blind test? I love to see that.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • xHY
                                  • 03 Oct 2022

                                  YUKI93, 02 Oct 2022I really want to see Nokia/Microsoft's PureView oversa... moreJust got myself a Nokia Lumia 1020 and I so can agree with you. My friend just couldn't believe that tj-e photo I shown to them was from the almost ten-year-old phone. They thought I'm using a DSLR.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • xHY
                                    • 03 Oct 2022

                                    blue, 02 Oct 2022It would bring no benefit against binning, the result is al... moreWrong. Oversampling still have much room for lossless zoom as you don't mess around with the colour array. Quad/Nona Bayer on the other do mess around with the colour array arrangement, hence why you never get much lossless zoom from such sensors.

                                      This megapixel race is the worst thing to happen to smartphone cameras. What we actually need is a big sensor + good lens race.

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • Lkg
                                        • 02 Oct 2022

                                        Anonymous, 02 Oct 2022Source?Supply chain