Many of you may think that smartphone cameras with massive resolutions (> 16MP) offer better photography! Actually they don’t! Here are the reasons why!

Megapixels: What is it and how does it form a picture?

First, let’s talk about pixels! Pixels (picture element) are the smallest units of programmable color in digital images. A pixel has no fixed size. Its size actually depends on the resolution you set for the screen display. If the resolution is maximum, the pixel will measure the same as a dot pitch, which is extremely tiny! If you set the resolution lower, the pixel will become bigger. Each pixel is made from varying gradation of either red, green or blue (RGB). Different ratios of the 3 colors result in different colors the pixel is.

Back to megapixel, it is a single unit of measurement, equal to one million pixels. At this point, you may not yet understand how big a megapixel is viewed in your device. But let me give you an example. You must be familiar with a size of a full HD (1920×1080) video right? That video is actually made from countless 2MP pictures! So a camera with 2MP resolution can produce a full HD image! That image is already big enough to cover a common laptop screen COMPLETELY.

So what about smartphones? If you tend to view images via your smartphone screen only, megapixels really don’t matter! A VGA selfie is enough to cover your smartphone screen. It is ironic that many users want to buy smartphones with 16MP camera and above in order to shoot better images. That is SO WRONG!

Megapixels: What is the truth?

If you don’t intend to print a wallpaper taken by your smartphone, you don’t really need a 23MP camera. The actual size of a 23MP image is the size of your wall or the size of a billboard ads. So a 12MP camera is already enough for common purpose. Instead, what counts the most in smartphone photography is the sensor! That’s why Samsung Galaxy S7’s Exmor-RS CMOS 12MP Sensor is crown the best camera in 2016.