Samsung Galaxy S5 Might Get a 21MP Camera According to Exif Data on Leaked Pic

[dgstorm]

If the rather boring pic above is not a fake, then we might have our first bit of confirmed hardware tech in the Samsung Galaxy S5. The EXIF data for the above leaked pic seems to suggest it came from Samsung's next flagship device. The EXIF data also reveals that the camera will likely be a 21MP beast. This is obviously even more powerful than the rumored 16MP.

The model number for this device is the Samsung SM-G900V, which previous intel suggests is the Verizon version of the SGS5. Here's a quote with some of the details,

Through it we find out that it’s the Samsung SM-G900V that took the picture, which according to SamMobile is the Galaxy S5 destined for Verizon. Furthermore, the photo’s original resolution is 5,312×2,988. That amounts to around 16 MP, so you’d say the past rumors have been correct.

But wait. That photo has 16:9 aspect ratio, though photo sensors in phones come with 4:3 aspect ratio. Thus the highest resolution 16:9 shot you can take is actually lower-res than the absolute highest-res photo you can shoot. For a 16:9 shot like this one, the full width of the sensor is used, but not its full height.

If we calculate what a 4:3 sensor’s resolution would have to be in order to output a 16:9 photo with 5,312×2,988 resolution, we arrive at around 21.2 MP. That would be a tad more than even Sony’s current highest-res sensor, the 20.7 MP one employed in the Xperia Z1 and the Xperia Z1 Compact.

What do you guys think? Most savvy camera users know that improved Mega Pixels don't necessarily make a camera superior, but this would be a huge upgrade from the current tech if the rest of the components and software are built to match. Of course, the EXIF data could be fake, so for now it makes for interesting speculation...

Source: UnWiredView

 

[Hugh Jass]

I'm quite sick of the MP wars. In the smartphone arena it's simply not necessary. You can't text someone a picture taken at that MP which drives me crazy, files so large they compress and destroy the quality, only a couple will even hit the limiter on gmail at 12MP, so what, I can send a single photo at a time? It's rather absurd how large these files become at that MP level. Yet the quality is the same it's been for a year, and that year before that, and that year before that. It's destroying storage space for very negligible effects on quality if at all.

Give me a cutting edge lens and a cutting edge sensor, and I'll gladly beg you to stop at 10MP. Maybe even 8MP.

 

[kodiak799]

Yeah, not too many thinking outside of the box on camera tech (is it the Sony phones that have "attachable" lenses?). I would think one major improvement would be a telescoping lens like many digital cameras have or used to have. And with the processing power in these phones now they really should be able to make some significant quality enhancements via software (even if purists might hate that).

LOL, everyone cries about faster LTE speeds "burning thru their data limits"....but the people who really have to worry are the ones snapping bunches of 21mp photos and auto-syncing to the cloud.

 

[tgyberg]

I'd say stop at 8mp and improve everything else. BUT people love those big numbers and that's what sells!

 

[kodiak799]

How do high-MP cameras perform when you take much lower res pics?

Now that phones coming later in the year will approach mid-tier laptops in CPU and RAM, I wonder if the focus will shift toward the camera. It already has, a little. Unfortunately I suspect their market research indicates a thicker phone with better camera optics won't sell.

 

[Dusty]

The big meeting about cellphone cameras must sound the same year after year...

Leader: Well, we'll kick off the meeting by announcing our new 50MP camera!

New Guy: Does it take a better picture than the old camera?

Leader: What do you mean? ...It's... It's 50MPs... See...

New Guy: That looks just as grainy as last year's.

Leader: What? Look right here... See the file size? When you go into properties... See? 50...

New Guy: Who cares? It's a bigger image but the quality is the same as it's been for the past 3 phone versions!

Leader: No it's not... See look... The file is much larger than it's ever been. I don't think you understand what we're going for here. People have been telling us that they want a better images for years now, and this image is MUCH larger.

New Guy: WHAT!? IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT! YOU NEED TO...

Leader: I don't like your attitude. Please leave, and when I'm done here meet me at HR.

 

[jcimlas]

Phone manufacturers always play with camera MP and we all know that is a marketing gimmick but sadly it still works darn well because there are soooo many people who still get fooled by the numbers. Sad. Hey Samsung, why don't you just release new phone with flexible screen that you've been talking about years ago?

 

[Hugh Jass]

Well in the late 90's it was important if you wanted to do large prints to have a little better MP because the tech was so new, but it has since turned into this perpetual mad machine. Honestly 6MP would suffice for 99.9% of people, which could do 30" prints with fine quality from a nice lens or sensor. When is the last time you printed 30" x 40"?

And imagine, you can buy a 80MP camera.