Phone manufacturers are promoting an ever-growing number of megapixels, saying that this will lead to better image resolution. But it's not just the number of pixels that matters when it comes to high-quality photos. — Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa
BERLIN: If you want to take razor-sharp images with your phone, you need a camera with high resolution. When buying a new phone, many people think they need to pay most attention to the number of megapixels. The common assumption is that the more megapixels, the better the image quality.
One megapixel corresponds to 1 million pixels. The higher the number of pixels, the denser and sharper the image will be. However, sometimes a smartphone with a lower megapixel count takes better quality photos than one with a higher number.
This is because it's not just the pixels that count – the size of the sensor is also crucial. The sensor is responsible for capturing light and converting it into a digital signal to form an image.
If the physical space for the sensor inside the phone is limited, then it doesn't matter how many megapixels are available because the pixels on the sensor will be too be small. In that case high resolution may not lead to better image quality than you'd get from a phone with fewer megapixels.
In actual cameras, the number of pixels and the sensor size are better aligned than in phone cameras. That's why SLR cameras with a larger sensor create sharper and more vivid images than an iPhone with the same number of megapixels. – dpa
