The quality of the camera is a very important factor for smartphones. Every time you release a new phone, the gap with cameras, video cameras thins even more. The Macworld came up with the first test that compares the new iPhone 4 having a 5 megapixel camera, a few point and shoot compact cameras and other smartphones, including the most formidable rival of the iPhone, the Motorola Droid X.
The iPhone camera 4
The iPhone camera is 5 megapixels and two of tested smartphones have a higher number of megapixels, but have performed worse in image quality tests.
What could be the reason for this difference? Well, notably the 5 million pixel CMOS sensor on the iPhone 4 backlit 1.3 by 2 inches to help the photodiodes receive the light directly. This allows more light to reach the sensors without being diffused from the circuit, which means that the camera can capture better images in low light situations.
Another factor that contributes to improving the quality of pictures taken with poor lighting is the pixel size. The more pixels the greater the amount of light captured, making the best pictures. Apple has maintained the same pixel size that had the previous iPhone, but decided not shrink to fit more megapixels in a smaller area to inflate the count as in many megapixel cameras.
As on other smartphones (including the iPhone before) the iPhone 4 from 3.85 mm lenses have an aperture setting of f by2.8 and automatically adjust the shutter speed and ISO to get the best possible exposure. In tests it was possible to bring the ISO from 80 to 1000. The maximum exposure was 1 / 15 of a second and shorter than 1 by 10000 of a second. I checked for the iPhone 4 as compared to those supplied with the HTC EVO 4G that does not allow manual settings such as White Balance, ISO and exposure compensation.
The iPhone offers a 4-tap to focus-focus, which made its debut with the 3G model, whereby you can tap anywhere on the screen to focus on a specific area. The fourth-generation iPhone also incorporates an LED flash that can be set to Auto (automatic), on or off. You can choose between the main camera and the new 1.4 megapixel front camera also features tap-to-focus, but no digital zoom.
If you switch to video mode you have access to the same controls. While you are making a recording, you can turn on or turn off the flash and even touch the display to shift the focus from one subject to another. Its double-touch display gives full screen zoom even if you continue to record video at 1280×720 resolutions. The iPhone 4s 720p records HD video at 30 frames per second (fps) while the front camera to 360p.
How the test was performed
The comparison between iPhone 4, iPhone 3G, HTC EVO 4G, Droid X, Samsung Galaxy S, and two compact point and shoot digital cameras, Sony DSC-WX1 and Samsung HZ35W were conducted by Macworld US.
For testing, same images were clicked with each camera. Without knowing what camera the picture belongs to, the various shots were analyzed by a panel of experts on various parameters such as exposure, color quality, sharpness and distortion. The list was then compiled giving a score for each characteristic examined.
The same procedure was adopted for the two videos recorded with each device, one in low light conditions and the other in normal.
Image Quality
As expected, the two point and shoot digital cameras have come first in the standings, but the highest score among the smartphone could not go to iPhone 4. Soon after we find the Droid X, the HTC EVO 4G, Samsung Galaxy and eventually the iPhone 3GS (click the image to enlarge).
The iPhone 4 wins with a net margin by winning the best display and best quality of the colors. As for distortion and sharpness, the iPhone has not stood up to digital cameras and picked up a tie with the Motorola Droid X.
Such scores indicate that the number of megapixels is not a very important factor when it comes to EVO 4G, Droid X and Galaxy S which sports more megapixel cameras than iPhone 4.
Video Quality
While the image quality was found to be impressive, the video features of the iPhone 4 has literally stole the show with other devices dominating the video test laboratory. Among the eight devices tested, only the Flip Video M2120 won, with a little margin after compared with iPhone 4 while recording 720p HD video. Regarding the audio quality, the Flip came out to be the undisputed winner.
Apple said that the picture quality does not depend only on the number of megapixels and the results of laboratory tests show that a 5 megapixel camera can capture high quality images to a 8 megapixel camera. For casual photographers who mostly publishing their photos online, the iPhone 4 is a great device. Although the quality of a point and shoot camera is higher, the advantage of built-in camera phone and then be able to take a photo at any time is a factor to be reckoned with.
You may also like to check out more about iPhone 4:
- iPhone 4 Vs iPhone 3GS: Comparison Chart
- iPhone 4 Vs HTC HD2 Vs HTC EVO 4G Vs Nokia N8 Vs Pre Plus
- iPhone 4 Vs Motorola Droid X Vs HTC Droid Incredible Vs EVO 4G Vs Nexus One
- iPhone 4 Vs HTC EVO 4G: Video Comparison
- iPhone 4 Vs HTC EVO 4G Vs Droid Incredible Vs Nexus One
Via – macworld
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