Why does the iPhone camera cap at 12 MP yet produce such impressive results?

Have you ever pondered why iPhone cameras maintain a modest resolution yet consistently deliver top-notch quality? Amidst a plethora of phones flaunting impressive specs, what criteria should you consider to choose a phone camera that fits your needs? Join 24h Tech as we explore this topic!

Sensor Size - A Key Criterion in Selecting the Right Phone Camera

Fundamentally, the sensor size determines the amount of light required to capture an image. While resolution plays a significant role in detail reproduction, the amount of light captured determines factors such as brightness balance, wide dynamic range, and even sharpness.

Discover why DSLR cameras, with resolutions of only 16 MP or 20 MP, still outshine 108 MP smartphone cameras.

Phones featuring large image sensors are gradually gaining popularity in 2022, particularly within the high-end flagship segment.

In 2021, the Pixel 6 made a significant leap by adopting a 1/1.31-inch primary sensor, surpassing its competitors. Meanwhile, the iPhone 13 transitioned to a larger 1/1.9-inch sensor, a substantial upgrade from the 1/2.55-inch sensor used in previous iPhone generations.

With identical settings for shutter speed, ISO, and aperture, a larger sensor will capture more light, resulting in enhanced details.

Moreover, a larger sensor size yields more photosites, reducing noise and expanding the image's dynamic range.

However, a smartphone with a larger image sensor may have to compromise with a slightly protruding camera cluster and other issues, such as the size of the camera on the iPhone 13 series still protrudes significantly, affecting the product's aesthetics.

Hoping that the upcoming iPhone 2022 generation will have a suitable design to address these drawbacks.

Choosing a smartphone with a good camera sensor is essential. A larger sensor improves photo performance significantly over a smaller one, and the dynamic range is enhanced.

However, besides sensor size, the quality of the lens, image processor, and software also play crucial roles in determining the image quality captured by smartphone cameras.

Processing Algorithm - Each developer is different!

The processing algorithm acts as an editor to refine the details of the image.

Common processing algorithms nowadays include HDR, Night Mode, portrait mode, background blur mode, computational photography, AI algorithms,... These are highly professional yet user-friendly tools that optimize the photography experience.

For example, AI feature, which has emerged in smartphones in recent years. Thanks to AI, phone cameras can predict the object about to be captured to adjust camera settings in advance for the photographer such as: color, aperture, lighting,...

AI camera shines best when taking selfies, adjusting to make users' eyes appear larger, blur wrinkles and acne on the face, making it very popular, especially among women.

However, some AI camera models push colors too harshly, resulting in less authentic-looking images.

Following the current trend, manufacturers are gradually integrating many exciting features to help us capture better photos, such as Night Mode for improved low-light photography, while others include Cinematic video recording feature, making videos look more cinematic.

Furthermore, image optimization algorithms also come from the manufacturer's chip, Apple always introduces generations of chips with superior performance, accompanied by extremely intelligent algorithms.

Instead of using a large sensor, Apple opted for a smaller one and then combined it to create a detailed picture, comparable to sensors four times its size.

Image stabilization technology - A premium feature that is gradually becoming popular

Phone cameras typically integrate two technologies: optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (EIS), with Samsung recently introducing VDIS technology to the market.

These image stabilization technologies help stabilize frames, minimize blurs and smudges in photos, videos. Moreover, if you're shooting video, each frame becomes more stable, reducing blur during movement.

This feature is integrated into the mobile device's camera and plays a crucial role. With OIS, images are less likely to be blurry, especially when shooting videos, there is no shaking phenomenon, significantly improving video quality.

For instance, when you're moving while taking photos, or capturing fast-moving scenes, even if you're very careful, it's hard to avoid shaking hands, resulting in unstable and blurry frames. At this point, optical image stabilization technology will come in handy and help produce beautiful, smooth, and silky images.

This is a feature that used to only appear on high-end phones.

However, following the technological trend, manufacturers are gradually bringing this feature down to lower-tier smartphones, making it more accessible to users at reasonable prices.

Focus technology - Something every phone should have

This is a practical camera technology that should be on every phone. Autofocus technology will automatically focus, providing fast focusing speed and sharper image display.

As a result, you won't need to spend too much time adjusting and maintaining a steady posture to produce a beautiful picture.

Modern and perhaps the most trusted autofocus technology is Dual Pixel autofocus, with this sensor helping to sharpen pixels and achieve much more accurate focusing speed. This technology enables you to capture moving objects at high speeds, and of course, it performs very well when taking photos while you're on the move.

Moreover, the brightness of photos captured by Dual Pixel also increases by 25%, and the actual output quality of devices equipped with this technology will not be inferior to professional-grade cameras.

Along with that, pixel binning technology will significantly increase the resolution of captured images. For example, when you take a photo with a 12 MP resolution camera, pixel binning technology will increase the photo resolution to 48 MP.

Images processed through pixel binning technology have a size four times larger than usual. If you see a phone camera with Ultra HD or Ultra Pixel mode, that's the pixel binning algorithm.

Megapixel Resolution - Higher isn't always better!

Currently, smartphone sensors have reached extremely high resolutions (over 100 MP), capable of capturing extremely detailed photos if sufficiently lit.

Therefore, maintaining appropriate pixel sizes to optimize the potential of high resolutions like 48 MP, 64 MP, or 108 MP is essential.

The higher the Megapixel count, the less likely the image details will become blurry or lose focus when zooming in, which is quite suitable for graphic designers performing tasks such as photo editing and cropping.

However, if the lens or camera sensor size of the phone is not good and does not capture many details in the image, even if you zoom in on a high MP image, the image quality will not be as expected.

Moreover, higher Megapixels mean more pixels in a smaller space, making the pixels smaller, resulting in poorer light capture and more noise. Therefore, a camera with a lower Megapixel count is not necessarily a bad thing, as choosing the MP value depends on your usage needs.

The iPhone is a prime example, where the current flagship model from Apple, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, only features a main camera with a 12MP resolution but still produces incredibly sharp images.

Through the method of stitching together multiple detailed images, sharpness is significantly improved, accompanied by more realistic colors even in low-light environments.

Conclusion: Criteria for choosing the right phone camera

With the criteria for choosing the right phone camera that I've mentioned, do you have any other experiences to consider when choosing a smartphone? Leave a comment below to let me know!

Additionally, if you're planning to buy an iPhone for stylish photography, you can check out the camera button below.

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