Help Photos 72 DPI

[jojo99]

I've had this phone for 5 months now and am very disappointed in the poor photo quality at the 5mp size. There is a lot of noise and focus fuzziness in most of the photos I have taken.

I also recently noticed that this camera takes photos at 72 DPI (as opposed to 180 DPI by my Canon point & shoot camera).

Does the DPI affect the quality of the photo when viewed at maximum size on a Windows PC? Could I change the DPI on this phone?

 

[nsciucco]

Try rooting and using a Camera from Cyanogen. The difference in quality is night and day.

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

DPI is actually a term that refers to how the picture prints, and has nothing to do with how the image is captured. The terms is thrown around incorrectly in many places online. Our phone captures 5mp images, and DPI doesn’t really factor into this at all until you decide to print it. DPI then comes into play. Printing a 5mp image on an 8X10 will not look as good as printing it on a 4X6. The DPI for 8X10 will be lower than 4X6. Here’s an article that helps explain this.

Dpi, misunderstandings and explanation, what is dpi

True DPI with regards to a camera sensor isn’t something that most people talk about. In fact, when it comes to the DPI of the sensor, the numbers should be in the thousands, not 72 or 180, or 300. Why? Because you will not find many sensors in phones that are even close to 1 inch. If you truly had 5mp at 72dpi, then your sensor would be 35” X 20”. That’s VERY large, and the sensor would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

5MP in our case correlates to 2560X1440. If you multiply that out, you don’t get 5 million pixels. I am not sure why, but I suspect it has to do with how the lens puts the light on the sensor. The entire sensor may not be used.

It’s more appropriate to refer to pixel density as PPI (pixels per inch). You want your PPI to be lower. Lower values of PPI mean larger pixels, and larger pixels have less noise and produce better images. DSLRs have MUCH LARGER sensors than point and shoot cameras, or even camera phones. 12 MP on a DSLR will blow away 12MP on any point and shoot. Here’s a picture that compares the various sensor sizes. Note that the full frame sensor is equal in size to 35mm film, and this sensor is commonly found on $2500-$8000 Canon DSLRs. Your average $500-$1500 Canon DSLR will have the APS-C sized sensor, and that's usually enough for anyone:

EDIT:

Pixel density as mentioned above refer to the size of each pixel. I stated that lower numbers are better, and this is still true. However, technology advances rapidly in this market, so a camera made today with identical pixel density to one made 5 years ago will likely look better. Software gets better and better every year at removing the noise caused by the smaller pixels. So assuming this, my statement earlier that lower pixel density always produces a better image is somewhat false if you factor in image processing. Assuming identical processors, identical manufacturers, identical lenses, identical sensor size, and everything else identical...the same camera with 5mp should produce better images than a 6mp version. Again, this doesn't account for software manipulation, just raw information. Also note, your eyes may not be able to tell the difference, and since the 6mp image has more detail, you'll probably say that it made the better image.

 

[OverByter]

As PF stated, the dpi has nothing to do with the resolution of the camera, 72 dpi is the normal output to a display, 300 is normal for printing this same image. Absolutely no correlation to the captured resolution.
OB

 

[jojo99]

Try rooting and using a Camera from Cyanogen. The difference in quality is night and day.

I've got a tech background but I don't understand all the implications (and potential problems) that can come from rooting. Is there any sort of comprehensive discussion on rooting HTC phones? Would this phone rooted still work with my carrier (VM)?

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

I've got a tech background but I don't understand all the implications (and potential problems) that can come from rooting. Is there any sort of comprehensive discussion on rooting HTC phones? Would this phone rooted still work with my carrier (VM)?

Rooting is basically obtaining amin rights to your phone. It's what you do with those amin rights that can cause problems. Following the guides here will keep you out of trouble. I an at lunch on my phone now, so I'll refrain from posting links. I am sure someone will be along shortly to elaborate.

 

[thIsgUy20]

I've got a tech background but I don't understand all the implications (and potential problems) that can come from rooting. Is there any sort of comprehensive discussion on rooting HTC phones? Would this phone rooted still work with my carrier (VM)?

Rooting is awesome its like becoming neo and being able to bend and do what ever you want to the system. I always wondered all the tweaks that come with rooting do Google put that there and just hides it or is it something Google didn't even put there