Date Published: 04/03/2008

When looking at mobile phones, most people who are interested in the camera immediately look to the number of megapixels. If the camera is VGA (or 0.3 megapixels), then the camera is deemed shoddy. If it is 2.1 megapixels, then the pictures must be stellar. Is this an accurate method of determining the quality of the camera and its photos? Not exactly. There are quite a few factors that determine how clearly these snapshots come out.

Camera phones comes with more options to choose from. LG KE850 Prada

Pixel Count

This is the statistic that is always put front and center, and it is rather important. The pixel count is how many pixels will be in a raw image that you shoot. For instance, most 2.1-megapixel cameras shoot at a resolution of 1600x1200. This means that the picture has 1,600 pixels across and 1,200 pixels high, with each pixel registering a distinct color. If you do the math, 1,600 times 1,200 actually equals 1,920,000, but the reason for this discrepancy is that some sensors are not used due to the space required for the circuitry. Regardless, pixel count determines the resolution and generally offers some indication of how sharp an image is, but it’s not the be-all-end-all statistic.


Image quality

Many cameras will give you the option of three or more image quality settings. This does not alter the size of the picture, nor does it technically affect how many pixels are being captured. What it does do is compress the file size through numerous methods once the photo has already been taken. Generally, this is done to convert the picture to a web-ready file type such as a JPEG, rather than the rawer file types of TIF or BMP. When numerous pixels have the same color, file space can be saved by not keeping record of each individual pixel. Another compression method reduces the file by getting rid of information that would not easily be seen by the human eye. The latter process does create problems, though, if you wish to print out a picture. If it’s large enough, you’ll begin to see the pixels.


Don’t trust the numbers

Pixel count is by far not the sole determinant of picture quality. There are many other factors: how good the sensor arrays are, the quality of the lens, and the method that is used to capture an accurate color within a pixel. For instance, the LG KE850 Prada phone uses Schneider-Kreuznach optics for a 2-megapixel camera. As such, it delivers a photo better than many cameras with much higher resolution capabilities. These factors vary widely within camera phones and, the information isn't always readily available. The best thing you can do is try out the camera yourself, and see how happy you are with the resulting pictures.


Zoom

The two common types of zoom are digital zoom and optical zoom. The former takes a picture and merely blows up an area of the photograph to make it larger. To do this, the camera basically guesses, or interpolates, what the pixels would probably look like had there been more detail. As such, if you are using the zoom and then intend to make large prints of the picture, you might have to worry about pixelation. The photo will also be less sharp. In a sense, the digital zoom is really doing some post-processing of the photo, and in most cases you’d rather not have this performed by your phone--your computer can do a much better job. Newer phones are incorporating optical zooms, however, and this is the better method as the focal length is altered (you’ll usually notice the lens extending when you operate it). This gives you the same size file and resolution as a non-zoomed picture, except that you can worry less about detail should you desire to blow the picture up. The detail and the color accuracy will be better as well.

Extra features can sway your camera phone decision.
LG VX9900 enV

Other features to consider

Some of the minor features of camera phones may end up influencing your decision. Many phones have choices for the shutter sound that is generated. For instance, the LG VX9900 enV has one where a childish voice says, “Say Cheese,” which, when you think about it, is asking for things a bit late. But if you enjoy taking candid or on-the-sly photos, you’ll want to research the shutter sounds that are offered, as many devices don’t offer a silent option.


Summary

As camera phones get better and better, it’s important to know what features to look out for. It’s becoming almost standard for mobile devices to have a music player, a phone, and a camera all in one, but the quality of each of these still varies widely. As long as you know what to look for, you can be sure that you won’t be left with blurry memories of 2008 at least.