Why 41 megapixel???

[Th3 I3LooD]

The Lumia 1020 has a 41 megapixel camera sensor, yet the largest image file it can save is 38 megapixel, I know this probably has to do with aspect ratio and there's some serious math involved but what happens to the 3 million pixels that are never heard of? Why not just use a 38 megapixel sensor? I know some of the smarter and more enlightened people in here will think this is thick but then please go ahead and share your unparalleled imaging wisdom with the rest of us unclean swine >_<

 

[AngryNil]

 

[crash1989]

The above post pretty much nailed it.

Nokia's words - it's not about the megapixels, we make phones that take great pictures in all conditions.

 

[WP7_Genius]

I think MP play a part in how good it looks blown up. I think its more of the lens, LIGHTING and F-Stop that makes pictures look good.

 

[krox1105]

You can't use the whole surface area of a circle for a rectangle. The largest rectangle that can be formed in it will always be smaller.
That's why.

 

[vlad0]

Because of this:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-1020/230263-possible-sd-card-slot-eos.html#post2015074

given the possible file size of pictures taken with a 41mp camera, a SD card slot is a must

Nexus 4 via Tapatalk 2

I keep posting the same thing over an over again, but..

The way the technology works in the Phase 1 system, which is what we have in the 808, is that in PureView mode the software combines 7 pixels into 1, and it cleans up the junk (noise, etc.) in the process, which makes the file smaller, and it also makes it nicer to look at..

So, you end up using 41 million pixels, to produce an 5 or 8mpix image in a small file. This process allows them to use 85% jpeg compression, which helps a lot as well.

Here are two examples from my 808

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/cam/nokia/808_pureview/201210250501p844pv.jpg

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/cam/nokia/808_pureview/20130212072565mxM4.jpg

They are about 1 mb each.. but the quality remains superior to any other phone, which will give you a noisy 3mb jpeg.

even more visible here

This is from the 808, and the file is 800kb .. nice and clean

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/cam/nokia/808_pureview/201212260531Lx1Io2.jpg

This from my iphone 5...

2.3mb worth of noise.. ew.

http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/cam/apple/iphone_5/201212260531DHr10J.jpg

The full resolution photos come at about 11-15mb.. still pretty good compression,

this is 38mpix
http://www.esato.com/phonephotos/cam/nokia/808_pureview/201210082001b8jVr4.jpg

but I rarely shoot in full res.. only if I am doing some resizing later, like for example today I took this under the golden gate bridge in full res, and got it down to 11Mpix.. still retaining great detail

 

[Th3 I3LooD]

Thanks Angrynil! As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words (pun intended ^_~) and that picture pretty much makes it as clear as day. So simple! Pure geometry.

 

[Th3 I3LooD]

Thanks for showing off those pictures! I can see you love taking pics with your 808 and your not a bad photographer either! Absolutely love the last pic of the car. (wanted to say shelby cobra but not sure... not a petrol head at all! >_< It is mind blowing to think that such quality can come from a sensor the size of your fingernail! The 808 is a year old and none of the other smartphone makers has even come close to matching its imaging prowess and now there's the 1020.... can't wait to see what Nokia has in store for us in the future!

 

[Th3 I3LooD]

Ok, so a rectangle is cut out from the full image that is in the shape of a circle, I get that... But if you look at the surface area of the circle NOT covered by the rectangle/square then in comparison it should be much more then 3 megapixel worth of data.... Anyone care to explain?

 

[JustToClarify]

no it shouldn't, just an illusion

 

[a5cent]

Ok, so a rectangle is cut out from the full image that is in the shape of a circle, I get that... But if you look at the surface area of the circle NOT covered by the rectangle/square then in comparison it should be much more then 3 megapixel worth of data.... Anyone care to explain?

You are misunderstanding the circle. At the top-right of the diagram the total sensor size is listed as 7728 x 5368, which forms a rectangular area.

The circle exists only as a geometric aid. It demonstrates that this sensor can take images at different aspect-ratios, while keeping the same effective sensor size. Sensor size is measured diagonally. The circle demonstrates that the diagonal is identical in both 4:3 and 16:9 modes.

Circular sensors do exist, but most are rectangular. In the above picture the actual sensor is represented by the light-grey outline of a rectangle, which is commented (top-left) as follows:

"Corner areas are not used as thy fall outside of the optical format area, plus they are not needed for either aspect ratios"

 

[Th3 I3LooD]

So basically those four little corners that fall outside the usable"optical format area" makes up the missing mega pixels, even though they are not used it is needed to achieve both aspect ratios. Thank U_U got it!!

 

[jlzimmerman]

Some more tech about the camera:

Nokia - Pushing the Boundaries of Digital Imaging

 

[HaibaneReki]

why not override the 4:3 and 16:9 paradigm then and snap the whole sensor's worth of data? Would create a nice rounded corners' effect right from the camera (trolling intended)