The smartphone Camera is an inseparable part of mobile photography. Now it plays a vital role in terms of buying smartphones. Everyone wants to get a smartphone with better quality cameras. Now the question arises: Does Camera performance depend on the Megapixel? Is a high Megapixel Camera giving better quality Images than a
lower Megapixel camera?
The answer is no. The Number of megapixels cannot define the camera performance or image quality. However, it helps to get better images in many aspects.
Nowadays, Mobile manufacturers advertise their megapixel count, and people believe that the higher the Megapixel, the better the Camera. And that is the issue. To understand that, we have to know some facts.
What is a Megapixel?
Megapixel means resolution. The word Megapixel has come from the word ‘Million pixels.’ Suppose the resolution of an image is 4000×3000. Then it is 12 million Pixel. And that means 12 Megapixels. Again, the image with a resolution of 6528×4896. That is 31.96 million Pixel called 32 Megapixel.
Now there can be a question, what is Pixel?
There always remains a sensor behind the cameras. The Sensor is divided into many scaled quail in a similar arrangement. And those scaled quail arrangements are Pixel. Each Pixel is capable of capturing information. When we click a photo, pixels capture lights, colors, and contrast. After that, all the pixels join together and combine an image. Then Software processes the image and shows it in the gallery on our phone.
So Higher Megapixels mean Higher Resolution.
Why do we need Higher Resolution?
Higher resolution gives more detail to images. If we zoom the image or crop out the picture, we get more information along with printing on the larger size. But that will give better image quality, that’s not true. That is one part of the coin. There are other things on the other side to get a better image quality. If there is a large sensor, large pixel size, and good lenses, then the fewer Megapixel is nothing to worry about.
Other factors that we should consider in terms of image quality Colors.
Dynamic Range
(How much highlight and shadows camera can preserve)
How good at Low light performance
How good at Noise performance, especially in low light.
Hardware part
Every mobile has a Lens and Sensor. And the Sensor in Mobile phones is tiny. If the Sensor is small, it doesn’t matter if you have a higher Megapixel. The image quality doesn’t go to improve a lot at all.
Software part
In terms of mobile, Software is much essential as hardware. While capturing, the Camera captured raw images, and the image procession software processed the photo. And then, we see the jpeg file. So image processing software matters a lot.
Apple, Samsung, and Pixel all have fewer megapixels. But their image quality is so good. That’s because if their Software is on point, their images are so good in Color and Dynamic Range. So, a smaller number of Megapixels doesn’t mean that there will be lousy image quality.
Sensor and Low Light performance
Recently there has been a test between iPhone 11, which has 12 Megapixel camera, and the Xiaomi mi note 10 with a 108-megapixel camera. iPhone 11, with just 12 megapixels, has way more details than 108 megapixels in low light. Why?
Suppose someone has to fill up 12 boxes; in contrast, he has been told to fill up 108 boxes, and fruitfully he will become tired because it is out of his capability. The same happens with the Sensor. The same Sensor has been forced to handle 108 megapixels. Lowlight performance becomes challenging when the Sensor has to push himself while increasing the ISO. That’s why the image quality degrades. And sharp details in low light get missed. So just because more Megapixel, good images cannot be captured. It can give worst photos than any lower megapixel’s mobile phone.
Regarding the front and back Camera, the front Camera has a smaller Sensor than the back Camera. It must remain under the screen, where many spaces are unavailable. And the rear Camera has a way larger Sensor than the front Camera. That’s why 12 MP back cameras are better than 32 MP front cameras.