Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 December 15

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December 15

Smartphone photos

I've been browsing photos taken by some high-end smartphones (by Samsung Galaxy S8 and by Huawei P20 Pro which uses Leica) and at full size nearly all appear watercolorish and grainy - basically just like on their inexpensive counterparts, including mine. What causes it? Brandmeister^talk 18:32, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

You being incorrect, perhaps? --Viennese Waltz 20:00, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

Two possibilities spring to my mind (others editors may be able to suggest more):

(a) The persons who took those particular images (is "photo" still the appropriate word in this context) used incorrect settings;

(b) Your viewing of them is being limited by the device screen and/or settings with which you are doing so. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.217.251.247 (talk) 20:28, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

Randomly sampling a few, they look fine to me. Can you name one or two that don't look right? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:01, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

This. I took a brief look at some of the Huawei photos and they seemed decidedly good for smartphone photos. Matt Deres (talk) 03:32, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

Basically the fact that those cameras have tiny sensors with too many pixels. The very small pixel sizes limits the dynamic range of the pixels. Postprocessing can help, and phone cameras often have a high dynamic range setting which combines multiple shots taken at different exposure levels. The latter isn't so great if the subject is moving, of course. Phone camera pics are mostly about convenience. If you want better pics get a larger-sensor camera. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 23:23, 15 December 2018 (UTC)