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Sony CEO Lets Slip That iPhone 5 Will Have 8MP Camera

Posted by timothy on from the no-such-thing-as-a-true-leak-anymore dept.

An anonymous reader writes "During a recent interview with Walt Mossberg, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer may have inadvertently let it slip that Sony plans to supply Apple with 8 megapixel cameras for the next-gen iPhone. While discussing the Japanese earthquake, Stringer noted that Sony's camera sensor plant in Sendai had been affected and that shipments of 8 megapixel camera sensors to Apple were subsequently delayed."

13 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah, but.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who cares?

  2. Good Lord by matty619 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is news?

  3. I don't buy it by abhi_beckert · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This rumor isn't credible. 8MP is a bad idea unless you make the lens and sensor bigger. The trouble is, as you increase the megapixels you reduce the amount of light the sensor can collect. Creating significantly poorer photos in low light conditions and slightly poorer photos in normal conditions.

    If you have a huge lens and sensor, like some phones and like a point-and-shoot camera then 8MP (or more) is a great idea. But apple isn't likely to do either of those.

    They already made the lens and sensor about as good as they could in the iPhone 4. I think we're a long time away from seeing an 8MP iPhone camera.

    1. Re:I don't buy it by damnfuct · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wish more people understood this rather than "MOAR MEGGAPIXALS MEENS MOAR BETTAR"

    2. Re:I don't buy it by doctor_no · · Score: 5, Informative

      There have been a lot of technology advancements that dramatically increase the amount of light each photosite can collect. The biggest is BSI (back side illuminated) sensors which can double the amount of light that gets captured per photosite. We are also moving to high-dynamic range, high-speed, and pixel-binning CMOS technology that can combine signal data from multiple photosites into one.

      http://image-sensors-world.blogspot.com/2011/02/sony-announces-12mp-155um-pixel-bsi.html

      In general you will get better quality from a larger sensor, all things being equal, but technology has moved considerably forward. 1~2 micron photosites (that are common in cellphones) can easily handle 8MPs. But don't expect it to take the same quality as a dSLR (or even the larger sensored point and shoots).

  4. Re:LOL. nokia n8 has 12mpx, pixon has 12mpx since by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You do realize, that other than raw numbers, megapixels have very little to do with final quality?

  5. Re:Meh by Jugalator · · Score: 3, Insightful

    QSXGA

    Quad Super Xtended Graphics Array... This is among the most annoying acronyms I know! Ahh!

    Easier to just say "5 MP" about that, if it's the resolution others are talking about.

    But with that out of my system - I wonder who in their right state of mind are actually going to print either 5 MP or 8 MP photos from a mobile phone on an A3-sized (Tabloid-sized for US citizens) sheet of paper?? It's obvious that they're once again just doing the old Megapixel race for no good reason.

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  6. Re:LOL. nokia n8 has 12mpx, pixon has 12mpx since by kimvette · · Score: 3, Informative

    You do realize that cellphone sensors are limited by diffraction so while you can resolve finer detail through unsharp masks, physics does limit the usable resolution of optical sensors. Making things worse, the need for anti-aliasing filters will further soften the photos. APS-C DSLRs have reached the point where they are diffraction limited to f/8.0 and yet while the megapixel race has slowed down a bit, it has not yet ended. If you need a 100% crop from the newest APS-C cameras, it requires minor to moderat sharpening during postprocessing. As the sensor size decreases the circle of confusion becomes relatively larger as the photo sites ("pixels") decrease.

    Unless they find some way to increase the lens size (which will require bending space-time) the megapixel race is utterly pointless, because the resulting photos will either appear softer and softer, or more and more artificial due to requiring more and more sharpening.

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
  7. Re:"Oops" by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Insightful

    8 megapixels is nothing special, what is interesting is if the sensor can provide good pictures.

    You can get great pictures with a 4 megapixel sensor. The noise level of the sensor and the optics is a lot more important.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  8. Sony is in bed with Apple? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I care because I didn't know that Sony supplied components to Apple. Maybe I have just been living in a cave or something....but I didn't know.

    And now that I DO know, Apple is on my do-not-buy list.

    I hate Sony THAT much. And you should too.

    1. Re:Sony is in bed with Apple? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sony provides parts to many different companies as they have so many different companies. If your criteria is to avoid all Sony parts, you may have to avoid electronics altogether.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    2. Re:Sony is in bed with Apple? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I care because I didn't know that Sony supplied components to Apple. Maybe I have just been living in a cave or something....but I didn't know.

      And now that I DO know, Apple is on my do-not-buy list.

      I hate Sony THAT much. And you should too.

      Pshaw. Apple has been every bit as evil as Sony, shitting on their customers since the 2nd gen iPod. If you had any real ethics, you wouldn't have been buying Apple products, either.

    3. Re:Sony is in bed with Apple? by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apple has been every bit as evil as Sony

      No, they haven't. Not even close.