The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/03/iphone_cmos/

Why the iPhone's megapixelage alone won't matter

Size isn't everything

By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco

Posted in Mobile, 3rd April 2009 17:40 GMT

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Don't go getting all excited by reports [1] that the camera in Apple's upcoming, new iPhone will be of the 3.2-megapixel variety.

Merely pumping up megapixelage doesn't make a camera better. A 3.2-megapixel camera with the same sub-optimal optics and image-processing circuitry as is in the current iPhone will produce equally crappy photos - just bigger ones.

Other camera-phone makers realize this, and have added such niceties as the 3.2-megapixel LG Dare [2]'s quality Schneider Kreuznach [3] optics, and the top-notch image correction from DxO labs [4] supporting the 3.2 megapixel camera [5] in the upcoming Palm Pre [6].

And if you really want to get serious about camera-phone quality, check out the more-camera-than-phone five-megapixel Motorola MotoZine ZN5 [7], with its Xenon flash, auto-focus, low-light setting, editing effects, panorama-stitching, and shutter speeds of up to 1/1000 seconds.

The same DigiTimes report [8] that broke the 3.2-megapixel rumor mentioned that OmniVision will also supply Apple with a five-megapixel CMOS image sensor for "another Apple product expected to be launched later in the year."

What that might be is anyone's guess.

Here at The Reg, we've speculated [9] that the iPhone line will grow beyond its current one-size-fits-all (except for capacity) model, so possibly a five-megapixel camera might find its way into an iPhone Pro - or some such.

We're certain that the smart folks at Apple know that merely adding a few pixels and video capability to the iPhone won't make it a great camera phone. What we don't yet know is how much they care. ®