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Camera Mobile Buying Guide
Introduction
Camera Mobile Resolution
Camera Mobile Zoom
Mobile Memory and Storage Options
Other Important Camera Mobile Features
Camera Mobile Zoom |
Basically a camera can be equipped with either a digital zoom or an optical zoom. In a digital zoom image pixels are enlarged using the camera's hardware. This can result in loss of image detail also referred technically as pixellation.
Optical zooming feature on the other hand tends to change the physical length of the lens in-turn magnifying the image before it gets recorded as pixels. This ensures that no image data is lost resulting into better image quality.
Almost all digital cameras come equipped with an optical zooming feature, but the sad reality is that optical zooming is not a viable solution for a camera mobile specifically because of the fact that they can significantly increase the bulk of the phone. There are some camera mobiles that do carry optical zooms but only after compromising on the shape and size.
As this is only a camera mobile and not a full fledged camera, we recommend that not much attention need to be paid on the zoom aspect. A digital zoom feature should do just fine but is actually not required as digitally zoomed images will look blurred in any case.
Display screens
Camera mobiles today come with various kinds of display screens, the two basic ones being LCD displays and OLED displays. We will be discussing about these two in detail below:
LCD Screens:
LCD or Liquid crystal display screens are quite popular over the market and many manufacturers prefer this over OLED. If you are going for LCD screens then you have more options to deal with. Basically you will come across three types of color LCD screens like TFT (Thin film transistor), TFD and STN (Super Twisted Nematic).
One major factor that arises in case of color LCD screens is the active and passive display. A display is said to be passive when high and low voltage signals are applied to the edges of the panel creating the image. As the voltage difference here is related to the number of lines the display intricacy is limited. In an Active matrix display on the other hand, a film transistor is fabricated directly into a glass substrate on each pixel. This considerably enhances display in comparison to the Passive matrix.
The difference between these types of LCD screens is rather complex to explain. But it would be safe to assume that TFT screens which make use of Active Matrix display are far better than other types and are by far the most efficient.
OLED screens:
OLED which otherwise means Organic light emitting diode emits light when a voltage is applied to it. In this type of display the pixel diodes are turned on and off selectively to form images leading to brighter display which is at the same time highly efficient.
One major difference between OLED and LCD screens is the backlighting issue. OLED's are self-luminous and hence require no backlighting whereas LCD's require either an external light source or a fluorescent/LED backlight. This makes OLED screens consume much lesser power in comparison to their LCD counterparts. Under bright light most LCD screens look washed out which is not the factor with OLED's that tend to have very high contrast and brightness ratio. OLED's are cheaper to manufacture and weigh much less. All these factors do seem to make OLED screens the clear winner.
Given these facts many camera mobile manufacturers still do not consider OLED screens as a better option in comparison to the LCD screens. Reason why you will find most camera cell phones that you come across use a LCD screen. So don't think of wasting your time searching for mobiles that make use of OLED screens, as even if you come across one, you still would have to deal with less design choices. Instead, try to find mobiles with good LCD screens that come with a good resolution and backlighting features.
Image Sensors
Image sensors are chips that convert visible light into electronic signals. Basically your camera mobile can come with a CCD or CMOS enabled image sensor. Both sensors have the capacity to produce high quality images but CMOS sensors which are relatively new to the market seem to have an edge over the commonly used CCD ones.
CCD Sensors
Most camera mobiles that you would come across would carry a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor. A CCD sensor is a made up of millions of tiny pixels that convert visible light into electrons. These electrons are then measured and converted to digital value using an analog-to-digital converter, producing the image. The major drawback of CCD sensors is the fact that they require high voltage to operate which directly means CCD mobiles will be heavier with hefty battery units.
CMOS Sensors
A major breakthrough in the image sensing technology is the CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor. CMOS sensors are easy to manufacture in comparison to CCD sensors that rely on specialized fabrication. This ensures that mobiles using the CMOS technology are cheaper and offer better value in comparison to those that use CCD censors. In addition to this primary advantage, CMOS sensors are extremely energy efficient and consume very less power extending the battery life hugely.
The debate on CCD verses CMOS sensors still continues among the manufacturers. Most manufactures tend to go for CCD sensors basically because of the fact that they have been in mass production for a long time and are kind of 'tried and tested'. In addition CCD sensors tend to generate higher quality images than CMOS.
At this point we are not in a position to recommend CCD over CMOS or vise versa. Most experts have it that CMOS sensors are better than CCD both in terms of economy and image quality. But top manufacturers like Sony, Sharp and Matsushita are yet to announce CMOS sensors for their mobiles.
Continue to Cell Phone Memory
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