Dimensions of matrices in a smartphone camera: what and where they are found. Internal memory capacity. This will allow us to track the evolution of technology

In the year 2007, when buying another mobile phone, we evaluated its design, rarely paying attention to functionality and what’s more, the screen is color, not too small, and that’s great. Today, mobile devices can hardly be distinguished from each other, but the most important characteristic for many remains the screen and not only its diagonal size, but also matrix type. Let's see what's behind the terms TFT, TN, IPS, PLS, and how to choose a smartphone screen with the required characteristics.

Types of matrices

Currently, modern mobile devices use three technologies for producing matrices based on:

• liquid crystal display (LCD): TN+film And IPS;
• on organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) – AMOLED.

Let's start with TFT(thin-film transistor), which is a thin-film transistor used to control the operation of each subpixel. This technology is used in all of the above types of screens, including AMOLED, so comparing TFT and IPS is not always correct. The vast majority of TFT matrices use amorphous silicon, but TFTs on polycrystalline silicon (LTPS-TFTs) have also begun to appear, the advantage of which is reduced power consumption and higher pixel density (more than 500 ppi).

TN+film (TN)– the simplest and cheapest matrix used in mobile devices with small viewing angles, low contrast and low color accuracy. This type of matrix is ​​installed in the cheapest smartphones.

IPS (or SFT)– the most common type of matrix in modern mobile gadgets, which has wide viewing angles (up to 180 degrees), realistic color rendering and provides the ability to create displays with high density pixels. This type of matrices has several types, let’s consider the most popular ones:

• AH-IPS– from LG;
• PLS- from Samsung.

It makes no sense to talk about advantages relative to each other, since the matrices are identical in properties and characteristics. You can distinguish a cheap IPS matrix by eye by its characteristic properties:

• fading of the picture when the screen is tilted;
• low color accuracy: an image with oversaturated or very dull colors.

Standing apart from LCD are matrices created on the basis of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). Mobile devices use a type of OLED technology - matrix AMOLED, demonstrating the deepest blacks, low power consumption and extremely rich colors. By the way, the life of AMOLED is limited, but modern organic LEDs are designed for at least three years of continuous operation.

Conclusion

The highest quality and brightest images are currently provided by AMOLED matrices, but if you are looking at a non-Samsung smartphone, I recommend an IPS screen. Mobile devices with a TN+film matrix are simply technologically outdated. I recommend not buying a smartphone with an AMOLED screen that has a pixel density of less than 300 ppi, this is due to the problem of subpixel patterns in this type matrices

Perspective matrix type

– the most promising displays based on quantum dot technology. Quantum dot is a microscopic piece of semiconductor in which quantum effects play an important role. QLED matrices in the future will have better color rendering, contrast, higher brightness and low power consumption.

Article:

Shooting with a mobile phone (smartphone) camera. Camera settings mobile phones. Main characteristics, problems and examples of defects in pictures. How to choose a smartphone with a good camera?

Preface

Shooting with a mobile phone (smartphone) camera has become a part of our lives. Many smartphone users believe that they simply no longer need a “regular” camera; it is enough to have a smartphone with a good camera.

But the question is: which smartphone camera is considered “good”? Or will she always be able to notice at least a simple “digital point-and-shoot”?

Let's look at this issue from the point of view of the characteristics of the cameras, their features, as well as typical problems and errors leading to loss of quality of photographs and videos taken from a mobile phone. We will try to do this without excessive scientific “abstruseness”, in simple and understandable language.

At the same time, we will divide the parameters of mobile phone cameras into two groups: parameters of photo matrices and parameters of lenses.

Physical principles of digital photography

The physical principles of digital photography are almost no different from the operation of a photocell made of school course physics. Light falling on the sensitive surface (which is the first electrode) knocks electrons out of it, which reach the second electrode. As a result, a potential difference arises between them, which is read and sent for processing. And this photocell is nothing more than an elementary pixel of the image sensor. These pixels are combined into a matrix, and their number is the same number of megapixels that we see on the packaging of a smartphone or camera.
True, in fact there are three times more pixels, because in color photography each pixel is formed by three sensors sensitive to different colors: red, green, blue (RGB in bourgeois terminology).

So, everything looks good and smooth. Where do image defects come from?

Objective reasons are electrical noise in the matrix and the lack of its dynamic range; as well as lens errors that form an inaccurate image of the real world on the matrix.

Subjective reasons - “shaking” of the photographer’s camera (this is especially serious in low light), erroneous focusing, errors in choosing exposure compensation, etc.

In some cases, image defects that arose due to real physical reasons are aggravated by software processing, which at times works on the principle of “they wanted the best; but it turned out...”. :)

Matrix parameters, part 1. Physical matrix size and number of megapixels.

Since the matrix of a digital camera is not only an image sensor, but also a source of noise, we will consider the parameters of the matrices in close connection with their effect on noise.

So, the first two parameters:

1. Matrix size.
2. Number of (mega) pixels.

The size of the matrix is ​​determined by intricate fractions of the form, for example, 1/2.7 (not to be confused with the aperture, which has a slightly similar designation, type F/2.7).
IN in this case this corresponds to a matrix diagonal of 6.27 mm, and the side dimensions are 5.02 x 3.76 mm.
How do you convert size 1/2.7 to “normal” units? This fraction means that the diagonal of the matrix is ​​2.7 times smaller than the diagonal of the matrix in a vidicon with a diameter of 1 inch. Vidicon is an ancient electron beam device used in television cameras of the “tube” era. And the matrix in the round 1-inch vidicon was, naturally, smaller than the diameter of the vidicon and amounted to a little more than 16 mm (i.e., not exactly 16 mm, there are “discrepancies”). These 16 mm are the “vidicon inch” from which the parameters of digital photo matrices are still calculated, although the vidicons themselves can only be found in technical museums. :)
The smaller the denominator of the fraction, the larger and BETTER the matrix.

Now let's look at why the larger the matrix, the better it is.

The noise in the matrix is ​​determined by the random (thermal) movement of electrons; and the signal - intensity luminous flux, exposure time (i.e. charge accumulation) and area of ​​the photosensitive element (pixel). Accordingly, the higher the parameters that form the signal, the better the signal-to-noise ratio will be, all other things being equal.

If at least one of the listed parameters is low, then noise begins to appear in the image in the form of randomly located dots and spots of varying brightness and color. This is what a noisy photograph looks like in low light conditions:

This effect is better visible when magnified to 100% (see fragment below). Noise makes the image of photographed objects less visible:

Let's return to the question of ways to reduce noise.
Everything is clear with the intensity of the light flux and the area of ​​the pixel, but how to increase the exposure time without bringing the image to overexposure? It’s very simple - reducing sensitivity when shooting (sensitivity is expressed in ISO units - 50, 100, 200, 400, etc. up to 100000). Another thing is that the sword, as we know, has “double edges.” Increasing the exposure time can lead to blurring of the image due to subject movement or camera shake in the hands; But we are still considering the problems in principle. :)

But the pixel size is determined not only by the size of the matrix, but also by the number of pixels on the matrix (roughly speaking, the area of ​​the matrix must be divided by the number of pixels). Hence the following conclusion: the fewer megapixels in the matrix, the better the signal-to-noise ratio. But at high lighting levels, even with a small pixel size, the signal-to-noise ratio will be quite good. And when the lighting drops, those cameras with larger pixels will have an advantage.

By the way, the pixel size (more precisely, the distance between pixels) has already reached its physical limit, which is 1 micron. Further reduction in pixel size becomes meaningless, since the light wavelength ranges from 0.39 to 0.78 µm; and when the distance between pixels is less than 0.78 microns (red light), neighboring pixels will simply show the same thing.

For the reasons described above, the consumer should keep in mind that often the number of megapixels is more of a promotional nature than a real benefit. In practice, if the camera has 12-13 megapixels, then this is already good; but this is not a guarantee that everything will be fine - the quality of the optics will come into play. If the camera of a MODERN smartphone has less than 10 megapixels, then most likely it is - cheap camera, from which you should not expect high quality images.

At the same time, if the manufacturer is quite reputable and respected (SONY, Asus, Samsung, etc.), then a large number of megapixels will not be superfluous. At least in bright light.

If you have doubts whether a large number of megapixels will be useful, then it is better to choose a smartphone that has more physical size matrices. And you can reduce the number of megapixels in a photo after shooting in a graphics editor.

This is such a contradictory parameter - the number of megapixels.

The result of this part of our research:

- The larger the physical size of the matrix, the better ALWAYS.
- The more megapixels, the better, but only with good quality optics and good lighting at the time of shooting.

Now - about additional parameters, including technological ones.

Matrix parameters, part 2. Sensitivity and technological features

Let's look at some more questions:

1. Sensitivity in ISO units.
2. Microlens technology.
3. Back-Side Illumination (BSI) technology.

In the old days, sensitivity was a physical parameter of photographic film, which could not change in any way during shooting.
In digital cameras, the sensitivity value can be set manually or automatically. When assigning one sensitivity or another, no changes actually occur in the photomatrix. The analog gain of the signal from the photosensors is simply changed before applying it to the input analog-to-digital converter(similar, for example, to adjusting the volume in players).
Accordingly, there is no change in the signal-to-noise ratio either, because Both signal and noise are amplified at the same time.

What then is the point of mentioning sensitivity in camera parameters?

The lower the lower limit of sensitivity, the better quality photographs you can get, at least for stationary objects. The mechanism for improving quality is simple: the lower the sensitivity, the longer the shutter speed (signal accumulation time), and the better the signal-to-noise ratio. For good cell phone cameras, the lower limit is usually 50 ISO.

And the higher the upper limit, the more opportunities there are to get at least some image in low light (albeit, along with all the noise involved). For good mobile device cameras, the upper limit is usually 3200...6400 ISO. Theoretically, nothing prevents you from setting the upper limit as large as you like, but in this case there will be no image - there will only be noise with vague outlines of objects.

Technological improvements (microlenses and back-illuminated matrices, BSI) appeared as a fight against one of the fundamental disadvantages of photomatrices: light-sensitive pixels could not occupy the entire surface of the matrix; since, in addition to them, transistors and connecting conductors are located on the surface of the matrix.

To eliminate these shortcomings, two technological innovations were introduced. First, light-collecting microlenses were placed in front of the pixels; and then the light-sensitive pixels began to be placed not on the side of the substrate where the conductors and transistors are located, but on the opposite side. As a result, a schematically modern photomatrix looks “in cross-section” something like this:

(image taken fromfrom the Czech section of Wikipedia)

The result of the second part of our research:

- The limits of possible sensitivity values ​​are not important, but it is desirable that they be at least in the range of 80...3200 ISO, or wider in BOTH directions (both down and up).

Technological features (microlenses, back-illuminated matrix) are now used in almost all cameras of mobile devices, starting from the mid-price range, and there is no point in considering them as an advantage. For aftermarket devices, the use of these technological features can be a strong argument in favor.

We will not consider the remaining parameters of the matrices in this article, as there are a lot of them (dozens!), and they are still not mentioned by mobile device manufacturers.

Typical image defects due to optical system problems

Although only one very small lens is visible on the outside of smartphone and tablet cameras, this is actually just the tip of the iceberg called “lens.” The lens is very complex andhas several lenses and several apertures (for more details, see the article “Smartphone camera design”). All these bells and whistles are needed to combat geometric and color distortions, as well as to ensure uniform focusing across the matrix field.

Let's consider typical examples, what happens when the optics of a smartphone camera are imperfect.

Case No. 1. Color unevenness ("color vignetting"):

(click to enlarge)

Please note that in the photo the center of the photo has a distinct pink tint and the edges are green. But that's not the only problem with this photo. Let's move on to case No. 2.

Case No. 2. Blurred areas in the photo.

If you enlarge the above image to 100%, you will notice that in the upper right corner the “picture” is much more “blurry” than in all other parts of the frame. Let's look, for comparison, at fragments from the left enlarged to 100%. top corner and from the top right:

This problem is a consequence of elementary geometric “curvature” in some of the elements of the optical system. Moreover, the location of the blur zone and its presence in general may vary from one instance to another of a phone of the same model.

But it should be borne in mind that the mere fact of a decrease in sharpness along the edges the photograph is not yet a defect. This phenomenon is typical for almost all mobile phone cameras, except the most expensive ones. Defect is an abnormal deterioration in sharpness in any separate image area.

The two defects just described do not follow from the technical parameters of the smartphone camera. They can only be detected by carefully looking at the test photos in device reviews.

Optical system parameters

Now let’s look at the parameters of the optical system that smartphone manufacturers usually indicate in the technical characteristics of the devices.

Most often, there are few such parameters, only two: relative aperture (aperture ratio) and the number of elements of the optical system. But it happens that they also add the focal length of the lens, the angle of view, the amount of optical and electronic zoom, and, sometimes, some other minor “small things”.

Let's start with the number of elements of the optical system. The number of elements, theoretically, the more, the better; for every element must somehow improve the image. It must be remembered that the number of elements does not mean the number of lenses; The elements also include diaphragms. But there is still no absolutely direct connection between the number of elements and image quality.

Let's talk in more detail about the first of the mentioned parameters - relative aperture.

The relative aperture is denoted by the letter F and a number, resulting in an expression of the form, for example, F /1.8. This number indicates how many times the effective value of the opening for the passage of light is LESS than the “ideal” value. By “ideal” we mean the illumination of the target by a lossless lens whose diameter is equal to the focal length.

Since there are always losses in the lens, and the distance from the front lens does not coincide with the focal length of the lens as a whole, the F value is always greater than 1. Moreover, since the amount of transmitted light is proportional not to the linear size, but to the area of ​​the hole, it decreases in proportion to the SQUARE of the number F/.

Fundamental difference The difference between the aperture in mobile device cameras and “real” cameras is that in mobile devices it is not adjustable (i.e., a fixed value). But in real cameras it can physically change due to the compression or expansion of the petals that form it.

From the point of view of the quality of photographs, the lower the number in the denominator of the expression F/x.x for a mobile phone camera, the better; since this means a greater luminous flux on the matrix and best ratio signal/noise.

The best cameras on mobile devices have a relative aperture ranging from F/2.0 to F/1.7, while others have a relative aperture from F/2.2 and higher. A smaller denominator is better.

But, if the camera has an optical zoom, then the F/ value can change even though the aperture in mobile device cameras is fixed. This is due to the fact that the position of the lenses changes as the zoom increases in such a way that the optical center of the lens moves away from the matrix, and its illumination decreases. Accordingly, the F/ number (relative aperture) also changes.

The remaining parameters are less significant, and are not always mentioned by manufacturers.

The focal length of the lens in itself does not mean anything, but together with the size of the matrix it determines the angle of view. For most rear (main) cameras, the angle of view (field of view) is 65-75 degrees, for front cameras - up to 90 degrees. When choosing a “mobile phone” you do not need to pay attention to this parameter. True, if you, for example, absolutely need a wide-angle camera, then it makes sense to pay attention to some smartphone models with multiple cameras, including a wide-angle fisheye camera.

Problems with software processing of photographs

Before we see the photo, the smartphone (tablet) thoroughly processes it in software at the firmware level, leading to a “digestible” appearance. The vast majority of these operations are linear; that is, they represent the necessary adjustment of brightness, contrast, color, and interpolation if the resolution of the image is set by the user to not match the resolution of the matrix.

You can see what raw photos look like as they come from the sensor to a smartphone on those smartphones that have the ability to save photos in RAW (this is the raw format):

(source file in RAW (DNG) can be downloaded, 23 MB)

This photo has pale colors, uneven brightness (the sky in the center around the temple seems to be lighter, but this is not a miracle, but a defect), and some other flaws. The smartphone corrects this; the photo processed by the smartphone looks like this:

Regarding the uneven brightness of the image, we must also add that it is also reflected in the noise level. The brightness of the image decreases by approximately 1.6 times towards the edges, and by 2.2 times towards the corners of the image relative to the center. It follows that the further from the center, the higher the noise level in the photo will be, and the lower the clarity. Accordingly, these phenomena should be considered natural to a certain extent.
True, the curvature of the optics can also contribute to the deterioration of clarity. In this case, the location of places where clarity is deteriorated will be asymmetrical, see the previous example of a photograph.

But, in addition to linear operations when processing such photos, there are also two non-linear operations, when the smartphone (tablet) itself adds to the picture what was not there (or removes what was there). These operations are “sharping” and “noising”.

Let's start with "sharping"(literally from English - “exacerbation”).
"Sharping" is the operation of emphasizing the contours of objects in a photograph.
The algorithm of its work, without going into mathematical details, is as follows: detect the contours of objects and make them clearer. And to do this, make the light side of the contour lighter, and the dark side darker.

Here is an example of the “correct” operation of sharpening:

Look at a fragment of the image at 100% scale:

If you look VERY closely, you can see around the dark part of the church dome a light strip against the sky. The thickness of this strip is only a few pixels. This is the “correct” work of sharpening - when it is almost unnoticeable.

Now let’s look at an example of the “wrong” operation of sharpening:

Look at a fragment from the upper left corner of the image at 100% scale:

The sky and some parts of the building are strewn with dots, curls and stripes. They were created by sharpening, trying to emphasize the contours of non-existent objects; which he mistook for most likely noise and minor unevenness in the background.
As a result, the picture turned out to be highly distorted.

Similar defects can accompany the operation of the noise suppressor.
The noise reduction system should (in theory) remove small specks that appear on a uniform background due to noise; especially in low light conditions.
But in practice, this algorithm often works rather dullly and begins to “smear” small details in a completely normal photo with good lighting.

Let's look at an example of the erroneous operation of "noise reduction":

Look at a fragment of the central part of the image at 100% scale:

This fragment clearly shows that the high-contrast parts of the photo turned out well; and those places where there is an increased concentration of small low-contrast details (tree branches) are “smeared” by the noise reduction system, since they are mistakenly taken for noise.

Also errors in software processing can also include some defects in color rendering.

There can be two options for color rendering errors: erroneous color balance of the photo and low color saturation.

This is what a photograph looks like with the color tone shifted towards “warm” colors:

A color balance defect is recognized as such only if it appears systematically in photographs. If it appears in the photo only sometimes, then this is a random deviation caused, as a rule, by specific lighting conditions at the time of shooting; and does not count as a defect.

The second software processing defect is low color saturation- looks like this in the photo:

At first it even seems that this photograph is black and white. But when you look closely, you then notice that the grass is a little green. :)

To be fair, it must be said that the last two defects (color balance and color saturation) are very rare.

Defects in software processing do not in any way follow from the technical parameters of the camera; they can only be discovered by looking at test photos in reviews.

How to choose a smartphone with a good camera?

So, having examined individual aspects of theory and practice, it’s time to move on to the useful application of the acquired knowledge.

What is the algorithm for finding a smartphone with a good camera?

The procedure will be something like this.

1 . Select for detailed analysis several smartphones that have a positive reputation for cameras; or the manufacturers themselves declared such a thing (sometimes you can trust them :)). Most likely, these will be smartphones no lower than the middle price range and with a main camera resolution strictly higher than 10 megapixels.

2 . Try to find information about what type of camera (sensor) is installed in the smartphone(s). Usually this information is published on the official websites of smartphone manufacturers. If you cannot find such information there, you can try to find it on the website kimovil.com (having found the characteristics of the smartphone you are interested in there).
You can determine the type of camera in a smartphone (tablet) “after the fact” (after purchase) using the “Device Info HW” utility by downloading it to the device from the Play Market application store (for devices on Android OS); more details in the next chapter.

3 . Next, by type of camera (sensor) find its technical characteristics. This can be done both through search engines on the Internet, and on official websites and on the English-language Wikipedia. Here are a few useful links for sensors the most famous manufacturers: SONY (Wikipedia), SONY (manufacturer's website), OmniVision (manufacturer's website), Samsung (manufacturer's website), Samsung (Wikipedia). List of other manufacturers (including Chinese) - .

4 . In the found technical parameters camera (sensor), first of all you should pay attention to the physical size of the matrix. Assuming the technologies used are equal, the larger the matrix size, the better the image is obtained both in terms of detail and noise level.
You should pay attention to the number of megapixels secondarily; this is a less critical parameter. B O A higher number of megapixels allows you to take pictures with better detail in good lighting, but with O greater noise in low light conditions.
It should also be kept in mind that in graphic editors from image with b O With a larger number of pixels you can always get an image with a smaller one (with a corresponding reduction in the noise level), and the reverse operation only leads to a loss of sharpness and blurring of contours.

5 . Find reviews of the selected smartphone(s) with examples of full-size photos (without size compression). Next, it is advisable to analyze those of them that contain the maximum number of small details. You should pay attention to the typical defects listed above in the article: color vignetting, the presence of areas of blur, excessive sharpening and/or noise reduction. If the level of these defects is high, then we discard this smartphone from consideration. Let's go back to point 1. :)

6 . The penultimate paragraph is “optional” (not mandatory). Consider purchasing a smartphone with a dual camera. The purposes of the dual camera can be different.
If the second camera is black and white, then this allows you to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for shooting in low light or to take high-quality black and white (monochrome) photographs.
Also, the second camera can be color, but with a different resolution and/or viewing angle. These cameras are typically used to detect the foreground and background and create a "bokeh effect" (blurring the background).
Another option is when the second camera has a larger focal length than the first. In this case, it gives optical magnification of objects and is used to create optical zoom.
There are also smartphones with the opposite effect to the previous one, i.e. when the second camera has a shorter focal length and takes fisheye photos.
And finally, the last option is when the second camera is installed “for beauty” and does not bring any usefulness in the form of improving the quality of pictures or creating creative effects. This is, as usual, the problem with smartphones from cheap Chinese manufacturers.

7 . And the last point is also optional. Study the presence and operation of an image stabilization system from reviews: this system will help reduce “subjective” factors deteriorating the quality of images, primarily due to camera shake.

How to determine which camera is installed in your smartphone (tablet)?

For Android smartphones, there is an excellent utility that shows the type installed cameras(more precisely, their sensors). It is called " Device Info HW" and can be installed easily and effortlessly from the Play Market application store (free). The utility reads configuration information from a smartphone (tablet) and presents it in a readable form.

The Camera section in this application looks like this:

(click to enlarge)

Top part The table shows the real (hardware) parameters of the cameras, and the lower part shows the software (interpolated) parameters. There is no benefit from higher interpolated parameters, since so far such algorithms cannot add detail (although Google is working on this problem - how to “complete” in a photo what is not there :)).
Also this diagnostic utility detects the presence of camera flashes and displays this information in a table. This feature may be interesting due to the fact that there are known cases where in some smartphones the flash for the front camera was a “dummy”, i.e. didn't really work. In such cases, this utility shows the user that there is really no flash there, and there is no need to suffer and try to make it work. :)
In the example given, the main (rear) camera - Samsung S5K3P3, has a resolution of 1 6 megapixels; front camera - SuperPix SP8407, resolution - 8 megapixels.

Unfortunately, the utility cannot always show the sensor model, especially for Qualcomm (qcom) platforms. In some cases, to access the relevant information on a smartphone, you may need ROOT rights, which, in turn, cannot be obtained for all models. You should also keep in mind that upon receipt of ROOT rights, contactless payment systems may refuse to work - from their point of view, this is a violation of security rules.

True, in this case the utility can show a list of compatible cameras, and from this list there is a chance to find the one that is used by comparing parameters.

Other manufacturers:
GalaxyCore (China)

Your Doctor.
February 22, 2017, with additions from January 27, 2018

Recommend this page to your friends and classmates

While its absence often indicates an MVA\PVA matrix.

Direct your gaze at the monitor screen perpendicularly if you notice that at this viewing angle the color shades of the image disappear. Most likely, in this case you are looking at the MVA\PVA matrix.

Look perpendicular to the monitor screen. If you notice a drop in image contrast, distortion of colors and their shades (inversion), it may be TN.

To accurately determine the matrix types of a particular monitor, enter the name of the model you are interested in in a search engine. Read reviews and technical specifications of the device, also visit the website and view information there as well.

Please note that information about the monitor screen matrix can be included in the marking of its model, which is written either on the front side of the case or on one of the service stickers on the back. The combination of the letters TN, MVA\PVA, TFT and so on in the name may indicate that the corresponding type of matrix was used during assembly. Also, do not trust the information on the price tags, since sellers may also make mistakes in indicating the type of matrix. Always read the specifications on the official website or the packaging of the device.

Helpful advice

When choosing a monitor, be guided by the features of its matrix.

Sources:

• How do I find out what matrix I have?

The main purpose of webcams is communication through video conferencing via the Internet. Models belonging to different price categories allow you to take photos and videos, video surveillance, and even view the starry sky. By choosing how to use the camera, you can determine the main characteristics, the presence of which will play an important role when purchasing this device.

Instructions

Buy products from Logitech and Genius - recognized global manufacturers of webcams - to be sure of their high quality. The cost of the camera will depend on the requirements for it.

Find information about the camera's compatibility with the operating system installed on your computer. Determine how the camera will connect to it. More expensive camera models use Wi-Fi technology, while standard ones are equipped with a USB connector. If you don't have a laptop with a built-in microphone, you might want to look at cameras that have this feature.

Pay attention to the matrix type. The CCD matrix, unlike CMOS, minimizes interference and transmits images better, but is also more expensive. The quality of the image also depends on the resolution of the webcam and the number of frames per second. The standard resolution is 640 x 480 pixels. Camera models related to the highest price category, have a resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels. The number of frames per second should exceed 40. In low light conditions, the sensitivity of the matrix plays a significant role.

Determine which method of mounting the camera will be most convenient for you. In order to save free space in the workplace, it is better to purchase webcam with a universal mount or a portable device designed for a laptop. Make sure the camera cord is long enough.

Decide whether you are willing to overpay for such additional characteristics webcams, such as autofocus, the ability to take photos and videos, correct colors, edit information, control contrast and brightness. To carry out video surveillance, you need to select a camera equipped with a rotating mechanism and a motion detector.

Video on the topic

Stains are a common occurrence after improper care of its appearance. This is especially true for glossy surfaces. To avoid their appearance, you just need to choose the right detergent for cleaning monitor surfaces.

Instructions

Determine the matrix type of your monitor. To do this, enter the name of its model into a search engine and view the specification. Remember the type of screen matrix in order to navigate the choice of tools.

Buy screen wipes at any computer store. It's best to purchase them according to the type of screen you have, also be careful not to get them too wet as they can leave unsightly streak marks on your monitor.

Purchase a special anti-smudge liquid that also matches the type of matrix on your screen. This can replace napkins if you can't find them. Use a lint-free cloth to remove dust and streaks from the monitor, first apply a little spray on it. After this, wipe the screen with a clean cloth. It's best to do this with the monitor turned off and unplugged from the power source.

You can also do without special means using a soft cloth, however the result will be slightly worse than using them. To do this, wet it with warm water, remove a layer of dust from the surface of the monitor, and get rid of stains with a clean damp cloth.

Do not press on the matrix under any circumstances, as you may damage it. At best, a few pixels will simply fall out of the grid. Also clean the monitor from streaks by first disconnecting it from the power supply.

Use a special set of products to clean monitors. Typically, such kits include napkins and a special liquid to prevent stains on the monitor. Wipes for table surfaces and for cleaning optical discs. Please also note that if you have regular monitor with a cathode ray tube, for them it is also provided special set products for removing dust and stains from glass surfaces, but here you can already use any glass cleaning product.

Helpful advice

Do not use Mr. Muscle or similar products as this may damage the matrix of your screen.

Choosing a desktop computer, it is important to pay attention to big set parameters. Modern PCs differ greatly not only in their internal elements. They have different dimensions and can include a wide variety of devices.

Instructions

First, check the type of desktop computer and which one suits you best. There are several main types of PCs: classic sets, all-in-one PCs and nettops. In the first case, we are usually talking about a combination of large system unit and monitor.

Monoblocks are a hybrid of a system unit and a monitor. If you choose desktop computer for the office - purchase the specified type. Its main disadvantages are the lack of additional video outputs and the difficulty of replacing components.

Ideal solution for home computer and, which will not be used for games, is a nettop. This device is a smaller analogue of the system unit. Buy one computer, if saving space is important to you.

Opt for a classic computer Yes, if you want to use the full range of functions of modern PCs. Naturally, it is important not only to determine the type of device, but also how to approach the study of its characteristics.

Select the motherboard and CPU that matches it. To work with office programs You can use a processor on socket FM1 with an integrated video chip.

Another advantage of motherboards with relatively new ports is the ability to improve performance in the future computer A. Please take this into account when selecting these items.

Check the amount of RAM. It should not be lower than 3 GB. This is quite enough even to run powerful applications and games. Pay attention to the RAM bus frequency. For DDR3 type boards it should not be lower than 1033 MHz.

Find out the characteristics of the installed video card: memory size and bus frequency. For budget model video adapter, these figures should not be lower than 1 GB and 128 bits, respectively. If you are planning to launch modern games, double both numbers.

Be sure to choose the right monitor. It must match the video card you are using. It is best to purchase a widescreen display with a diagonal of 21-25 inches. Naturally, the matrix resolution should not be lower than 1366x768 pixels.

A mathematical matrix is ​​an ordered table of elements. Dimension matrices is determined by the number of its rows m and columns n. By solving matrices we mean a set of generalizing operations performed on matrices. There are several types of matrices; a number of operations cannot be applied to some of them. There is an addition operation for matrices with the same dimension. The product of two matrices can only be found if they are consistent. For anyone matrices determinant is determined. You can also transpose the matrix and determine the minor of its elements.

Instructions

Write down the given ones. Determine their size. To do this, count the number of columns n and rows m. If for one matrices m = n, the matrix is ​​considered square. If all elements matrices are equal to zero – the matrix is ​​zero. Determine the main diagonal of the matrices. Its elements are located in the upper left corner matrices to the bottom right. Second, reverse diagonal matrices is a side effect.

Perform matrix transposition. To do this, replace the row elements in each with column elements relative to the main diagonal. Element a21 will become element a12 matrices and vice versa. As a result, from each initial matrices you will get a new transposed matrix.

Add up the given matrices, if they have the same dimension m x n. To do this, take the first matrices a11 and add it to the second similar element b11 matrices. Write the result of the addition into a new one in the same position. Then add elements a12 and b12 of both matrices. Thus, fill in all the rows and columns of the summarizing matrices.

Determine whether the given matrices agreed upon. To do this, compare the number of lines n in the first matrices and the number of columns m second matrices. If they are equal, do the matrix product. To do this, multiply each element of the first row in pairs matrices to the corresponding element of the second column matrices. Then find the sum of these products. Thus, the first element of the resulting matrices g11 = a11* b11 + a12*b21 + a13*b31 + … + a1m*bn1. Perform multiplication and addition of all products and fill in the resulting matrix G.

Find the determinant or determinant for each given matrices. For matrices of the second - with dimensions 2 by 2 - the determinant is found as the product of the elements of the main and secondary diagonals matrices. For three-dimensional matrices determinant: D = a11* a22*a33 + a13* a21*a32 + a12* a23*a31 - a21* a12*a33 - a13* a22*a31 - a11* a32*a23.

Sources:

• matrix how to solve

We are accustomed to simply calling a laptop monitor with an active liquid crystal matrix a “matrix”. Each laptop model has its own specific line, which is not always interchangeable. Therefore, in order to select this element specifically for your gadget, you need to thoroughly know what model it is and all its exact characteristics.

Smartphone display technologies do not stand still; they are constantly being improved. Today there are 3 main types of matrices: TN, IPS, AMOLED. There are often debates about the advantages and disadvantages of IPS and AMOLED matrices and their comparison. But TN screens have not been in fashion for a long time. This is an old development that is now practically not used in new phones. Well, if it is used, it is only in very cheap state employees.

Comparison of TN matrix and IPS

TN matrices were the first to appear in smartphones, so they are the most primitive. The main advantage of this technology is its low cost. The cost of a TN display is 50% lower compared to the cost of other technologies. Such matrices have a number of disadvantages: small viewing angles (no more than 60 degrees. If more, the picture begins to distort), poor color rendition, low contrast. The logic of manufacturers to abandon this technology is clear - there are a lot of shortcomings, and all of them are serious. However, there is one advantage: response time. In TN matrices the response time is only 1 ms, although in IPS screens the response time is usually 5-8 ms. But this is just one plus that cannot be weighed against all the minuses. After all, even 5-8 ms is enough to display dynamic scenes and in 95% of cases the user will not notice the difference between response times of 1 and 5 ms. In the photo below the difference is clearly visible. Note the color distortion at angles on the TN matrix.

Unlike TN, IPS matrices show high contrast and have huge viewing angles (sometimes even maximum). This type is the most common, and they are sometimes referred to as SFT matrices. There are many modifications of these matrices, so when listing the pros and cons, you need to keep in mind a specific type. Therefore, below, to list the advantages, we will mean the most modern and expensive IPS matrix, and to list the disadvantages, the cheapest.

Pros:

1. Maximum viewing angles.
2. High energy efficiency (low energy consumption).
3. Accurate color reproduction and high brightness.
4. Possibility to use a high resolution, which will give a higher pixel density per inch (dpi).
5. Good behavior in the sun.

Minuses:

1. Higher price compared to TN.
2. Distortion of colors when the display is tilted too far (however, viewing angles are not always maximum on some types).
3. Oversaturation of color and insufficient saturation.

Today, most phones have IPS matrices. Gadgets with TN displays are used only in the corporate sector. If a company wants to save money, then it can order monitors or, for example, cheaper phones for its employees. They may have TN matrices, but no one buys such devices for themselves.

Amoled and SuperAmoled screens

Most often in Samsung smartphones SuperAMOLED matrices are used. This company owns this technology, and many other developers are trying to buy it or borrow it.

Home AMOLED feature matrices is the depth of black color. If you put it next to AMOLED display and IPS, blacks on IPS will appear light compared to AMOLED. The very first such matrices had implausible color reproduction and could not boast of color depth. Often there was so-called acidity or excessive brightness on the screen.

But developers at Samsung have corrected these shortcomings in SuperAMOLED screens. These have specific advantages:

1. Low power consumption;
2. Better picture compared to the same IPS matrices.

Flaws:

1. Higher cost;
2. The need to calibrate (set) the display;
3. Rarely can the lifespan of diodes vary.

AMOLED and SuperAMOLED matrices are installed on the top flagships due to the best picture quality. Second place is occupied by IPS screens, although it is often impossible to distinguish between AMOLED and AMOLED in terms of picture quality. IPS matrix. But in this case, it is important to compare subtypes, and not technologies as a whole. Therefore, you need to be on guard when choosing a phone: often advertising posters indicate the technology, and not a specific matrix subtype, and the technology does not play a key role in the final quality of the picture on the display. BUT! If TN+film technology is indicated, then in this case it is worth saying “no” to such a phone.

Innovation

Removing the OGS air gap

Every year engineers introduce image enhancement technologies. Some of them are forgotten and not used, and some make a splash. OGS technology is just that.

Typically, a phone screen consists of protective glass, the matrix itself, and an air gap between them. OGS allows you to get rid of the extra layer - the air gap - and make the matrix part of the protective glass. As a result, the image appears to be on the surface of the glass, rather than hidden underneath it. The effect of improving display quality is obvious. Over the past couple of years, OGS technology has been unofficially considered a standard for any more or less normal phones. Not only expensive flagships are equipped with OGS screens, but also budget phones and even some very cheap models.

Screen glass bending

The next interesting experiment, which later became an innovation, is 2.5D glass (that is, almost 3D). Thanks to the curves of the screen at the edges, the picture becomes more voluminous. If you remember, the first Samsung smartphone Galaxy Edge made a splash - it was the first (or not?) to have a display with 2.5D glass, and it looked amazing. There was even an additional one on the side Touchpad For quick call some programs.

HTC was trying to do something different. The company created the Sensation smartphone with a curved display. In this way it was protected from scratches, although it was not possible to achieve any greater benefit. Nowadays, such screens cannot be found due to the already durable and scratch-resistant protective glass Gorilla Glass.

HTC didn't stop there. The LG G Flex smartphone was created, which not only had a curved screen, but also the body itself. This was the “trick” of the device, which also did not gain popularity.

Stretchable or flexible screen from Samsung

As of mid-2017, this technology is not yet used in any phone available on the market. However, Samsung in videos and at its presentations demonstrates AMOLED screens that can stretch and then return to their original position.

Photo of the flexible display fromSamsung:

The company also presented a demo video where you can clearly see the screen curving by 12 mm (as the company itself states).

It is quite possible that Samsung will soon make a very unusual revolutionary screen that will amaze the whole world. This will be a revolution in terms of display design. It's hard to imagine how far the company will go with this technology. However, perhaps other manufacturers (Apple, for example) are also developing flexible displays, but so far there have been no such demonstrations from them.

The best smartphones with AMOLED matrices

Considering that SuperAMOLED technology was developed by Samsung, it is mainly used in models from this manufacturer. In general, Samsung is a leader in the development of improved screens for mobile phones and TVs. We already understood this.

Today, the best display of all existing smartphones is the SuperAMOLED screen in the Samsung S8. This is even confirmed in the DisplayMate report. For those who don’t know, Display Mate is a popular resource that analyzes screens inside and out. Many experts use their test results in their work.

To define the screen in S8, we even had to introduce a new term - Infinity Display. It received this name due to its unusual elongated shape. Unlike its previous screens, Infinity Display has been seriously improved.

Here is a short list of benefits:

1. Brightness up to 1000 nits. Even in bright sunshine, the content will be highly readable.
2. A separate chip for implementing Always On Display technology. The already economical battery now consumes even less battery power.
3. Picture enhancement function. In Infinity Display, content without an HDR component gains it.
4. Brightness and color settings automatically adjusted based on user preferences.
5. Now there is not one, but two lighting sensors, which more accurately allows you to automatically adjust the brightness.

Even compared to the Galaxy S7 Edge, which had a “reference” screen, the S8's display looks better (on it, whites are truly white, while on the S7 Edge they go warmer).

But besides the Galaxy S8, there are other smartphones with screens based on SuperAMOLED technology. These are, of course, mostly models Korean company Samsung. But there are also others:

1. Meizu Pro 6;
2. OnePlus 3T;
3. ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL – 3rd place in the TOP of Asusu phones (located).
4. Alcatel IDOL 4S 6070K;
5. Motorola Moto Z Play, etc.

But it is worth noting that the hardware (that is, the display itself), although it plays key role, but software is also important, as well as secondary software technologies that improve picture quality. SuperAMOLED displays are famous primarily for their ability to widely adjust temperature and color settings, and if there are no such settings, then the point of using these matrices is slightly lost.

Apple's Retina displays

Since we're talking about Samsung screens, it's appropriate to mention Apple's closest competitor and their Retina technology. And although Apple uses classic IPS matrices, they are distinguished by extremely high detail, large viewing angles and good detail.

A feature of Retina displays is the ideal diagonal/resolution ratio, thanks to which the picture on the screen looks as natural as possible. That is, there are no individual pixels that are visible on screens with low resolution. At the same time, there is not even the unpleasant sharpness that can sometimes be seen on displays with excessively high resolution.

The only explanation more banal than this axiom is “the iPhone, it turns out, does not have a slot for a memory card.” But newbies continue to make mistakes when they fall for the number of megapixels in the camera, which means they have to repeat themselves.

Imagine a window - an ordinary window in a residential building or apartment. The number of megapixels is, roughly speaking, the number of glasses inside the window frame. If we continue to draw parallels with smartphones, in ancient times window glasses were the same size and were considered a scarce commodity. Therefore, when the so-called “Tolyan” said that he had 5 glasses (megapixels) in his window unit, everyone understood that Anatoly was a serious and wealthy person. And the characteristics of the window were also immediately clear - a good view to the outside of the house, a large glazing area.

A few years later, windows (megapixels) were no longer in short supply, so their number just needed to be increased to the required level, and that was it. Simply bring it into line with the area (window for ventilation and loggia, for the sake of strength, require different quantities windows) so that the camera produces a slightly denser picture than 4K monitors and TVs produce. And finally deal with other characteristics - for example, combat clouding of glass and image distortion. Teach cameras to focus correctly and paint available megapixels efficiently, if you want specifics.

On the right there are more “megapixels”, but they do not provide anything other than “obstacles” with the same “sensor” area

But people are already accustomed to measuring the quality of cameras in megapixels, and sellers happily indulged this. Therefore, the circus with a huge amount of glass (megapixels) in the same frame dimensions (camera matrix dimensions) continued. As a result, today the pixels in smartphone cameras, although they are not “packed” with the density of a mosquito net, the “deglazing” has become too dense, and over 15 megapixels in smartphones almost always spoil rather than improve photographs. This has never happened before, and now it turns out again that it’s not size that matters, but skill.

At the same time, the “evil,” as you understand, is not the megapixels themselves - if tons of megapixels were spread out on a fairly large camera, they would benefit the smartphone. When a camera is able to unleash the potential of all megapixels on board, and not “smear” them in large quantities when shooting, the photo can be enlarged, cropped, and it will remain of high quality. That is, no one will understand that this is just a fragment of a larger picture. But now such miracles are found only in “correct” SLR and mirrorless cameras, in which the matrix alone (a microcircuit with photo sensors, onto which the image flies through the “glasses” of the camera) is much larger than the assembled smartphone camera.

“Evil” is the tradition of putting a clip of megapixels into tiny cell phone cameras. This tradition brought nothing but a blurry picture and an excess of digital noise (“peas” in the frame).

Sony piled 23 megapixels where competitors put 12-15 megapixels, and paid for it with a decrease in picture clarity. (photo - manilashaker.com)

For reference: in the best camera phones of 2017, the main rear cameras (not to be confused with the b/w additional ones) all operate with a “pathetic” 12-13 megapixels. In photo resolution it is approximately 4032x3024 pixels - enough for a Full HD (1920x1080) monitor, and for a 4K (3840x2160) monitor too, albeit back to back. Roughly speaking, if a smartphone camera has more than 10 megapixels, their number is no longer important. Other things are important.

How to determine that a camera is of high quality before looking at photos and videos from it

Aperture - how wide the smartphone “opened its eyes”

The squirrel eats nuts, deputies eat people’s money, and cameras eat light. How more light, the higher the quality of the photo and the more details. But you can’t get enough sunny weather and studio-style bright lighting for any occasion. Therefore, for good photos indoors or outdoors in cloudy weather/at night, cameras are designed in such a way that they produce a lot of light even in unfavorable conditions.

The easiest way to get more light to reach the camera sensor is to make the hole in the lens larger. The indicator of how wide the “eyes” of the camera are open is called aperture, aperture, or aperture ratio - these are the same parameter. And the words are different so that reviewers in articles can show off incomprehensible terms for as long as possible. Because, if you don’t show off, the aperture can simply be called, excuse me, a “hole,” as is customary among photographers.

The aperture is indicated by a fraction with an f, a slash and a number (or with a capital F and no fraction: for example, F2.2). Why

So it’s a long story, but that’s not the point, as Rotaru sings. The point is this: the smaller the number after the letter F and the slash, the better the camera in the smartphone. For example, f/2.2 in smartphones is good, but f/1.9 is better! The wider the aperture, the more light enters the matrix and the better the smartphone “sees” (takes better photos and videos) at night. The bonus of a wide aperture comes with beautiful background blur when you photograph flowers up close, even if your smartphone does not have a dual camera.

Melania Trump explains what different apertures look like in smartphone cameras

Before buying a smartphone, don’t be lazy to check how “sighty” its rear camera is. If you have your eye on the Samsung Galaxy J3 2017, search for “Galaxy J3 2017 aperture”, “Galaxy J3 2017 aperture” or “Galaxy J3 2017 aperture” to find out exact figure. If the smartphone you have your eye on doesn’t know anything about the aperture, there are two options:

• The camera is so bad that the manufacturer decided to remain silent about its characteristics. Marketers engage in approximately the same rudeness when, in response to “what processor is in the smartphone?” they answer “quad-core” and do their best to avoid disclosing the specific model.
• The smartphone has just gone on sale and no specifications other than those in the advertising announcement have been released yet. Wait a couple of weeks - usually during this time the details will be released.

What should be the aperture in the camera of a new smartphone?

In 2017-2018 Even for a budget model, the rear camera should produce at least f/2.2. If the number in the denominator of this fraction is larger, get ready for the camera to see the picture as if through darkened glasses. And in the evening and at night she will be “low-blind” and will be able to see almost nothing even at a distance of several meters from the smartphone. And don’t rely on brightness adjustments - in a smartphone with f/2.4 or f/2.6, an evening photograph with a programmatically “tightened” exposure will turn out to be a “rough mess,” while a camera with f/2.2 or f/2.0 will take more high quality photo without tricks.

The wider the aperture, the higher the quality of shooting on a smartphone camera

The coolest smartphones today have cameras with an aperture of f/1.8, f/1.7 or even f/1.6. The aperture itself does not guarantee the maximum quality of pictures (the quality of the sensor and the “glass” has not been canceled) - this, to quote photographers, is just a “hole” through which the camera looks at the world. But all other things being equal, it is better to choose smartphones in which the camera does not “squint”, but receives an image with “eyes” wide open.

Matrix (sensor) diagonal: the larger the better

The matrix in a smartphone is not the matrix where people with complex muzzles in black cloaks dodge bullets. In mobile phones, this word means a photocell... in other words, a plate on which a picture flies through the “glasses” of the optics. In old cameras, the picture flew to the film and was saved there, and the matrix instead accumulates information about the photograph and sends it to the smartphone processor. The processor forms all this into the final photo and stores the files in internal memory or on microSD.

There is only one thing you need to know about the matrix - it should be as large as possible. If the optics is a water hose, and the diaphragm is the neck of a container, then the matrix is ​​the same reservoir for water, of which there is never enough.

The dimensions of the matrix are usually measured in inhuman, from the bell tower of ordinary buyers, Vidicon inches. One such inch is equal to 17 mm, but cameras in smartphones have not yet grown to such dimensions, so the diagonal of the matrix is ​​denoted by a fraction, as is the case with the aperture. The smaller the second digit in the fraction (divisor), the larger the matrix -> the cooler the camera.

Is it clear that nothing is clear? Then just remember these numbers:

A budget smartphone will take good photographs if its matrix size is at least 1/3" and the camera resolution is no higher than 12 megapixels. More megapixels means lower quality in practice. And if there are less than ten megapixels, the photo will be visible on good large monitors and TVs look loose, simply because they have fewer dots than the height and width of your monitor screen.

In mid-class smartphones, a good matrix size is 1/2.9” or 1/2.8”. If you find a larger one (1/2.6” or 1/2.5”, for example), consider yourself very lucky. In flagship smartphones, a good tone is a matrix measuring at least 1/2.8”, and better – 1/2.5”.

Smartphones with large sensors take better pictures than models with small photocells

Can it get any cooler? It happens - look at 1/2.3” in Sony Xperia XZ Premium and XZ1. Why then don’t these smartphones set records for photo quality? Because the camera’s “automation” constantly makes mistakes with the selection of settings for shooting, and the camera’s reserve of “clarity and vigilance” is spoiled by the number of megapixels - in these models they piled up 19 instead of the standard 12-13 megapixels for new flagships, and the fly in the ointment crossed out the advantages of the huge matrix.

Are there smartphones in nature with a good camera and less harsh characteristics? Yes - look at the Apple iPhone 7 with its 1/3" at 12 megapixels. On the Honor 8, which has 1/2.9" with the same number of megapixels. Magic? No - just good optics and perfectly “polished” automation, which takes into account the potential of the camera as well as tailored trousers take into account the amount of cellulite on the thighs.

But there is a problem - manufacturers almost never indicate the size of the sensor in the specifications, because these are not megapixels, and you can embarrass yourself if the sensor is cheap. And in reviews or descriptions of smartphones in online stores, such camera characteristics are even less common. Even if you choose a smartphone with an adequate number of megapixels and a promising aperture value, there is a chance you will never know the size of the rear photosensor. In this case, pay attention to the latest characteristic of smartphone cameras, which directly affects the quality.

Better few large pixels than many small ones

Imagine a sandwich with red caviar, or take a look at it if you don’t remember what such delicacies look like. Just as the eggs in a sandwich are distributed over a piece of loaf, the area of ​​the camera sensor (camera matrix) in a smartphone is occupied by light-sensitive elements - pixels. There are, to put it mildly, not a dozen, or even a dozen, of these pixels in smartphones. One megapixel is 1 million pixels; typical smartphone cameras from 2015-2017 have 12-20 megapixels.

As we have already figured out, containing an excessive number of “blanks” on a smartphone’s matrix is ​​detrimental to photographs. The efficiency of such pandemonium is similar to that of specialized teams of people replacing a light bulb. Therefore, it is better to observe a smaller number of smart pixels in a camera than a larger number of stupid ones. The larger each of the pixels in the camera, the less “dirty” the photos are, and the less “jumpy” the video recording becomes.

Large pixels in the camera (photo below) make evening and night shots better quality

The ideal smartphone camera consists of a large “foundation” (matrix/sensor) with large pixels on it. But no one is going to make smartphones thicker or dedicate half of the body at the back for the camera. Therefore, the “development” will be such that the camera does not stick out from the body and does not take up much space, the megapixels are large, even if there are only 12-13 of them, and the matrix is ​​as large as possible to accommodate them all.

The size of a pixel in a camera is measured in micrometers and is designated as µm in Russian or µm in Latin. Before you buy a smartphone, make sure that the pixels in it are large enough - this is indirect sign that the camera shoots well. You type into the search, for example, “Xiaomi Mi 5S µm” or “Xiaomi Mi 5S µm” - and you are pleased with the camera characteristics of the smartphone that you have noticed. Or you get upset - it depends on the numbers you see as a result.

How big should a pixel be in a good camera phone?

In recent times, it has become especially famous for its pixel sizes... Google Pixel is a smartphone that was released in 2016 and “showed Kuzkin’s mother” to competitors due to the combination of a huge (1/2.3”) matrix and very large pixels of the order of 1.55 microns. With this set, he almost always produced detailed photographs even in cloudy weather or at night.

Why don't manufacturers "cut" the megapixels in the camera to a minimum and place a minimum of pixels on the matrix? Such an experiment has already happened - HTC in the flagship One M8 (2014) made the pixels so huge that the rear camera could fit... four of them on a 1/3” matrix! Thus, One M8 received pixels measuring as much as 2 microns! As a result, the smartphone “torn” almost all competitors in terms of the quality of images in the dark. Yes, and photographs in a resolution of 2688x1520 pixels were enough for Full HD monitors of that time. But an all-round champion HTC camera didn’t, because the Taiwanese were let down by HTC’s color accuracy and “stupid” shooting algorithms, which did not know how to “correctly prepare” the settings for a sensor with unusual potential.

Today, all manufacturers have gone crazy with the race for the largest pixels, so:

• In good budget camera phones, the pixel size should be 1.22 microns or more
• In flagships, pixels ranging in size from 1.25 microns to 1.4 or 1.5 microns are considered good form. More is better.

There are few smartphones with a good camera and relatively small pixels, but they exist in nature. This, of course, is the Apple iPhone 7 with its 1.22 microns and OnePlus 5 with 1.12 microns - they “come out” due to very high-quality sensors, very good optics and “smart” automation.

Without these components, small pixels ruin the photo quality in flagship smartphones. For example, in the LG G6, the algorithms create obscenities when shooting at night, and the sensor, although ennobled with good “glasses,” is cheap in itself. IN

As a result, 1.12 microns always spoil night shots, except when you enter into battle with “ manual mode"instead of stupid automation and correct its flaws yourself. The same picture prevails when shooting on the Sony Xperia XZ Premium or XZ1. And in the masterpiece, “on paper”, the Xiaomi Mi 5S camera is hampered from competing with the flagships of the iPhone and Samsung by the lack of optical stabilization and the same “crooked hands” of the algorithm developers, which is why the smartphone copes well with shooting only during the day, but not at night very impressive.

To make it clear how much to weigh in grams, take a look at the characteristics of the cameras in some of the best camera phones of our time.

Smartphone	Number of megapixels of the “main” rear camera	Matrix diagonal	Pixel size
Google Pixel 2 XL	12.2 MP	1/2.6"	1.4 µm
Sony Xperia XZ Premium	19 MP	1/2.3"	1.22 µm
OnePlus 5	16 MP	1/2.8"	1.12 µm
Apple iPhone 7	12 MP	1/3"	1.22 µm
Samsung Galaxy S8	12 MP	1/2.5"	1.4 µm
LG G6	13 MP	1/3"	1.12 µm
Samsung Galaxy Note 8	12 MP	1/2.55"	1.4 µm
Huawei P10 Lite/Honor 8 Lite	12 MP	1/2.8"	1.25 µm
Apple iPhone SE	12 MP	1/3"	1.22 µm
Xiaomi Mi 5S	12 MP	1/2.3"	1.55 µm
Honor 8	12 MP	1/2.9"	1.25 µm
Apple iPhone 6	8 MP	1/3"	1.5 µm
Huawei nova	12 MP	1/2.9"	1.25 µm

What type of autofocus is best?

Autofocus is when a mobile phone “focuses” on its own while taking photos and videos. It is needed so as not to change the settings “for every sneeze”, like a gunner in a tank.

In old smartphones and modern Chinese "state-priced" phones, manufacturers use contrast autofocus. This is the most primitive method of focusing, which focuses on how light or dark it is “straight ahead” in front of the camera, like a half-blind person. That’s why cheap smartphones need about a couple of seconds to focus, during which it’s easy to “miss” a moving object, or stop wanting to shoot what you were going to do because “the train has left.”

Phase autofocus “catches light” across the entire area of ​​the camera sensor, calculates at what angle the rays enter the camera and draws conclusions about what is “in front of the smartphone’s nose” or a little further away. Due to its “intelligence” and calculations, it works very quickly during the day and does not annoy you at all. Distributed in all modern smartphones, except for the very budget ones. The only drawback is working at night, when the light enters into the narrow hole of the mobile phone’s aperture in such small portions that the smartphone “breaks the roof” and it constantly fidgets with focusing due to a sudden change in information.

Laser autofocus is the most chic! Laser rangefinders have always been used to “throw” a beam over a long distance and calculate the distance to an object. LG in the G3 smartphone (2014) taught this “scanning” to help the camera quickly focus.

Laser autofocus is amazingly fast even in indoor or dim environments

Take a look at yours wrist watch... although, what am I talking about... okay, turn on the stopwatch on your smartphone and estimate how quickly one second passes. Now mentally divide it by 3.5 - in 0.276 seconds, the smartphone receives information about the distance to the subject and reports this to the camera. Moreover, it does not lose speed either in the dark or in bad weather. If you plan to take photos and videos up close or at a short distance in case of insufficient light, a smartphone with laser autofocus will help you out a lot.

But keep in mind that cell phones are not tools from “ Star Wars", so the range of the laser in the camera barely exceeds a couple of meters. Everything that is further away is viewed by the mobile phone using the same phase autofocus. In other words, to photograph objects from afar, it is not necessary to look for a smartphone with “laser guidance” in the camera - you will not get much use from such a function in general shots of photos and videos.

Optical stabilization. Why is it needed and how does it work

Have you ever driven a car with leaf spring suspension? On army UAZs, for example, or ambulances with the same design? In addition to the fact that in such cars you can “beat off the butt,” they shake incredibly - the suspension is as rigid as possible so as not to fall apart on the roads, and therefore it tells passengers everything that it thinks about the road surface, frankly and not “spring” (because that there is nothing to spring with).

Now you know how a smartphone camera without optical stabilization feels when you try to take a photo.

The problem with shooting with a smartphone is this:

• The camera needs a lot of light to take good photos. Not direct rays of the sun into the “face”, but diffuse, ubiquitous light around.
• The longer the camera “examines” the image during the photo, the more light it captures = the higher the quality of the picture.
• At the time of shooting and these camera “peeps”, the smartphone must be motionless so that the picture does not get “smeared”. If it moves even a fraction of a millimeter, the frame will be ruined.

And human hands are shaking. This is clearly noticeable if you lift with outstretched arms and try to hold a barbell, and less noticeable when you hold a cell phone in front of you to take a photo or video. The difference is that the barbell can “float” in your hands within wide limits - as long as you don’t touch it against a wall, a neighbor, or drop it on your feet. And the smartphone needs to have time to “grab” the light for the photo to come out successful, and to do this before it deviates a fraction of a millimeter in your hands.

Therefore, the algorithms try to please the camera and not put increased demands on your hands. That is, they tell the camera, for example, “so, 1/250th of a second you can shoot, this is enough for the photo to be more or less successful, and taking a shot before the camera moves to the side is also enough.” This thing is called endurance.

How optical stabilization works

What does optostab have to do with it? So, after all, he is the “depreciation” with which the camera does not shake like the body of army trucks, but “floats” within small boundaries. In the case of smartphones, it does not float in water, but is held by magnets and “fidgets” at a short distance from them.

That is, if the smartphone moves a little or shakes during shooting, the camera will shake much less. With such insurance, a smartphone will be able to:

• Increase the shutter speed (the guaranteed time “to see the picture before the photo is ready”) for the camera. The camera receives more light, sees more image details = the quality of the photo during the day is even higher.
• Capture clear photos on the move. Not during an off-road sprint, but while walking or from the window of a shaking bus, for example.
• Compensate for shaking in video recordings. Even if you stomp your feet very sharply or sway slightly under the weight of the bag in your second hand, this will not be as noticeable in the video as in smartphones without an optical stabilizer.

Therefore, optostab (OIS, as it is called in English) is an extremely useful thing in a smartphone camera. It’s also possible without it, but it’s sad - the camera must be of high quality “with a margin”, and the automation will have to shorten (worse) the shutter speed, because there is no insurance against shaking in a smartphone. When shooting video, you have to “move” the image on the fly so that the shaking is not visible. This is akin to how in old movies they simulated the speed of a moving car when it was actually standing still. The only difference is that in films these scenes were filmed in one take, and smartphones have to calculate the shaking and deal with it on the fly.

There are vanishingly few smartphones with a good camera, which without stabilization takes pictures no worse than competitors with stabilization - these are, for example, Apple iPhone 6s, the first generation of Google Pixel, OnePlus 5, Xiaomi Mi 5s and, with some stretch, Honor 8/ Honor 9.

What not to pay attention to

• Flash. Useful only when shooting in pitch darkness, when you need to take a photo at any cost. As a result, you see the pale faces of people in the frame (all of them, because the flash is low-power), eyes squinted from the bright light, or a very strange color of buildings/trees - photographs with a smartphone flash definitely do not carry any artistic value. As a flashlight, the LED near the camera is much more useful.
• Number of lenses in the camera. “Before, when I had 5 Mbps internet, I wrote an essay in a day, but now, when I have 100 Mbps, I write it in 4 seconds.” No, guys, it doesn't work like that. It doesn’t matter how many lenses there are in a smartphone, it doesn’t matter who released them (Carl Zeiss, judging by the quality of the new Nokia cameras, too). Lenses are either high quality or not, and this can only be verified with real photographs.

The quality of the “glass” (lenses) affects the quality of the camera. But the quantity is not

• Shooting in RAW. If you don’t know what RAW is, I’ll explain:

JPEG is the standard format in which smartphones record photos; it is a “ready-to-use” photo. Like the Olivier salad on a festive table, you can take it apart “into its components” in order to transform it into another salad, but it won’t turn out to be of very high quality.

RAW is a hefty file on a flash drive, in which all brightness, clarity and color options for a photograph are sewn in its pure form, in separate “lines”. That is, the photo will not be “covered with small dots” (digital noise) if you decide to make it not as dark as it turned out to be in JPEG, but a little brighter, as if you had set the brightness correctly at the time of shooting.

In short, RAW allows you to “Photoshop” a frame much more conveniently than JPEG. But the catch is that flagship smartphones almost always select the settings correctly, so apart from the smartphone’s RAW memory being polluted with “heavy” photos, there will be little benefit from “Photoshopped” files. And in cheap smartphones, the camera quality is so poor that you will watch poor quality in JPEG, and the source in RAW is just as bad. Don't bother.

• Camera sensor name. They were once super important because they were a “quality seal” for a camera. The size of the matrix, the number of megapixels and pixel size, and minor “family characteristics” of shooting algorithms depend on the model of the camera sensor (module).

From " big three» manufacturers of camera modules for smartphones, the highest quality modules are produced by Sony ( individual examples we don’t take into account, we are talking about the average temperature in the hospital), followed by Samsung (Samsung sensors in Samsung Galaxy smartphones are even better than the coolest Sony sensors, but the Koreans are selling something absurd “on the side”), and finally brings up the rear OmniVision's list, which produces "consumer goods, but tolerable." Intolerant consumer goods are produced by all other basement Chinese companies, the name of which even the manufacturers themselves are ashamed to mention in the characteristics of smartphones.

8 - execution option. Do you know how this happens in cars? The minimum configuration is with a “cloth” on the seats and a “wooden” interior, the maximum is with seats made of artificial suede and leather dashboard. For buyers, the difference in this figure means little.

Why, after all this, should you not pay attention to the sensor model? Because with them the situation is the same as with megapixels - Chinese “alternatively gifted” manufacturers are actively purchasing expensive Sony sensors, trumpeting at every corner “our smartphone has a super-quality camera!”... and the camera is disgusting.

Because the “glass” (lenses) in such mobile phones is of appalling quality and transmits light a little better than a plastic soda bottle. Because of these same bastard “glasses,” the camera aperture is far from ideal (f/2.2 or even higher), and no one is tuning the sensor so that the camera selects the colors correctly, works well with the processor, and doesn’t spoil the pictures. There you are clear example that the sensor model has little effect:

As you can see, smartphones with the same camera sensor can shoot completely differently. So don't think that the cheap Moto G5 Plus with IMX362 module will shoot as well as the HTC U11 with its amazingly cool camera.

Even more annoying is the “noodle on the ears” that Xiaomi puts on the ears of buyers when it says that “the camera in Mi Max 2 is very similar to the camera in the flagship Mi 6 - they have the same IMX386 sensors! They are the same, but the smartphones shoot very differently, the aperture (and therefore the ability to shoot in low light) is different, and the Mi Max 2 cannot compete with the flagship Mi6.

1. The additional camera “helps” take photos at night with the main one and can take black and white photos. The most famous smartphones with such camera implementations are Huawei P9, Honor 8, Honor 9, Huawei P10.
2. The secondary camera allows you to “shove in the impossible,” that is, it takes pictures with an almost panoramic viewing angle. The only proponent of this type of camera was and remains LG - starting with the LG G5, continuing with the V20, G6, X Cam and now the V30.
3. Two cameras are needed for optical zoom (zooming in without losing quality). Most often, this effect is achieved by simultaneous operation of two cameras at once (Apple iPhone 7 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 8), although there are models that, when zoomed in, simply switch to a separate “long-range” camera - ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom, for example.

How to choose a high-quality selfie camera in a smartphone?

Best - based on examples real photos. Moreover, both during the day and at night. During the day, almost all selfie cameras produce good photos, but only high-quality front cameras are capable of shooting something legible in the dark.

It is not necessary to study the vocabulary of photographers and go deeper into what this or that characteristic is responsible for - you can simply memorize the numbers “this much is good, but if the number is higher, it is bad” and choose a smartphone much faster. For an explanation of terms, welcome to the beginning of the article, and here we will try to derive the formula for a high-quality camera in smartphones.

Megapixels	No less than 10, no more than 15. Optimal - 12-13 MP
Diaphragm(aka aperture, aperture)	For budget smartphones - f/2.2 or f/2.0 for flagships: minimum f/2.0 (with rare exceptions - f/2.2) optimal - f/1.9, f/1.8 ideal - f/1.7, f/1.6
Pixel size (µm, µm)	the higher the number, the better for budget smartphones- 1.2 microns and above for flagships: minimum - 1.22 microns (with rare exceptions - 1.1 microns) optimal - 1.4 microns ideal - 1.5 microns and above
Sensor (matrix) size	the smaller the number in the fraction divisor, the better for budget smartphones - 1/3” for flagships: minimum - 1/3” optimal - 1/2.8” ideal - 1/2.5”, 1/2.3”
Autofocus	contrast - so-so phase - good phase and laser - excellent
Optical stabilization	very useful for shooting on the go and night photography
Dual camera	one good camera is better than two bad ones, two average quality cameras are better than one average one (brilliant wording!)
Sensor (module) manufacturer	not specified = most likely there is some junk inside OmniVision - so-so Samsung in non-Samsung smartphones- normal Samsung in Samsung smartphones - excellent Sony - good or excellent (depending on the integrity of the manufacturer)
Sensor model	a cool module does not guarantee high quality shooting, but in the case of Sony, pay attention to sensors IMX250 and higher, or IMX362 and higher

I don't want to understand the characteristics! Which smartphone to buy with good cameras?

Manufacturers produce countless smartphones, but among them there are very few models that can take good photographs and shoot videos.