What Makes a Good Smartphone Camera?

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SMARTPHONE CAMERA? Today, smartphones have made it easier than ever to capture beautiful images and videos. But what makes a good smartphone camera? It's actually the image sensor. This piece of technology may be small, but it has a big impact on whether your Instagram selfie is blurry or your Vine video is pixelated. Here's why image sensors matter. PHOTOS, VIDEOS, EVERYWHERE! Analysts forecast that there will be more than 1 BILLION smartphones sold in 2013 58% Today, 58% of smartphone owners take photos exclusively with their smartphone 42% Global shipments of digital cameras were down 42% in the first five months of 2013 PEOPLE WANT THEIR CAMERAS TO BE CONNECTED EVERY DAY, THERE ARE: f You Tube 300 million 40 million photos uploaded to Facebook photos uploaded to Instagram 1,440 hours of video uploaded to YouTube 12 million Vine videos posted on Twitter BUT WHAT'S DRIVING TODAY'S EXPLOSION IN SMARTPHONE IMAGES AND VIDEOS? IMAGE SENSOR noun: a chip that converts an optical image (photons of light) into an electronic signal (digital bits made up of Os & 1s) 6 YEARS 2014 8 Mpix 2007 2 Mpix The performance of a smartphone camera's image sensor has improved by more than 4 times in the past six years In 2014, 66 percent of smartphones will feature image sensors with 8-megapixel or higher resolution. Compare that to the high-end smartphones of 2007, which only came equipped with 2-megapixel sensors. Even though this piece of technology is small, it has a big impact on how your photos and videos look – and how your smartphone performs IMAGE SENSORS MATTER A HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGE SENSOR MEANS: You can take sharper images and videos A FASTER IMAGE SENSOR MEANS: No shutter lag between pressing the button and snapping a photo, so you'll catch the moment as it's happening Less delay between shots, so you can capture all the action ARGUABLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF IMAGE SENSORS ARE: LOW-LIGHT SENSITIVITY Image sensors with better low-light sensitivity will let you take a noise- and blur-free picture in a darker environment ENHANCED COLOR ACCURACY 24 With good dynamic range and well-saturated colors, the image or video you take is just as beautiful as the one you see LOW POWER A high-performing image sensor ensures you're not wasting your device's battery, especially when shooting long videos or using augmented reality apps All images were captured using a Samsung image sensor SO, WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR THE SMARTPHONE USER? Thanks to today's advanced image sensors, photos and videos have less noise, higher resolution, better color accuracy and more dynamic range - in short, better image quality. DID YOU KNOW. Most people know Samsung for its smartphones, but did you know Samsung also makes image sensors? Samsung has been on the cutting edge of image sensor technology since 2002, helping to drive the mobile photography and videography revolution with this very small – but very important- component. In September 2013, Samsung introduced its new advanced pixel technology for CMOS image sensors - ISOCELL. This breakthrough technology substantially increases light sensitivity, resulting in higher color fidelity even in poor lighting conditions. LEARN MORE ABOUT SAMSUNG IMAGE SENSORS AT BIT.LY/SAMSUNGCMOS Sources: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2335616 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smartphones-vs-digital-cameras--has-the-tipping-point-been-rea ched-216811231.html SAMSUNG http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324251504578580263719432252.html http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/06/06/reviewed-smartphones-replace-point-and-shoots/2373375/ http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/vine-twitters-new-video-tool-hits-13-million-users/ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/samsung-launches-isocell-innovative-image-sensor-technology-for-premi um-mobile-devices-2013-09-23