This is the last in our series of articles about the imaging world, I would encourage anyone that enjoyed them to comment below with any further topics and I can include it in future articles.
In previous weeks, we have guided you through the process of producing a digital image and have explained some of the interesting things that we can look forward to seeing in the future. We first talked about the human visual system and how it’s used for digital cameras to mimic the human eye. We then spoke about the mechanics of images sensors and the basic functions of an image signal processor. Most of the aspects of imaging discussed up to now can be applied to any digital camera. So this week we complete our column with the challenges that face one of the fastest growing camera markets, the cell phone camera.
In the past five years, smartphones have exploded in popularity and the resolution and quality of their cameras have increased exponentially. The original iPhone, released in 2007, contained a fixed focus, 2 MP sensor that was noisy and lacked decent image quality. Just five years later, the latest iPhone contains an 8 MP, auto-focus camera that rivals digital still cameras in terms of overall image quality and rendition. More Photos