10 Smartphone Camera Specs You Should Know

Need a phone with a quality camera above all else? Then you are at the right place because our vivo crew has got you covered with this comprehensive guide.

That smartphones have become indispensable parts of our lives goes without saying. They give us an inexhaustible ocean of apps, help us organize our lives, and stay connected with people around us.

However, the trend of buying smartphones solely because of the great cameras has been around for quite a while. But how do you know if a specific smartphone camera shoots good photos or is just another disappointing shooter?

10 Must-Know Specs in Your Smartphone Camera

The camera is undoubtedly the most important selling point of today’s smartphones. But if you find terms like RAW format, HD, megapixels, and others that have been often thrown around when people talk about smartphone cameras confusing, vivo Invites you to keep reading to help you make sense of it all so you can decide what is good enough for you.

1. Megapixels

The most common judging method when it comes to camera quality. But… Is higher always better? Generally speaking, more megapixels equal more details.

Most people know about megapixels, but what actually are they? Megapixels represent the number of small picture elements that make up a complete image.

Megapixel resolution plays a vital role in how big you can print your pictures. More megapixels mean more detail is recorded, which further means you can make larger prints of your shots without sacrificing the image’s quality.

A high-resolution camera of the vivo X70 Series featuring ZEISS T* Coating and Ultra-Sensing Gimbal Camera can give you an image with the clearest detail you have ever seen before.

If you want a camera that translates sceneries into reality down to the smallest details even in the dark, then vivo X70 with Real-Time Extreme Night Vision and its instant brightness controls is the way to go!

2. Sensor Size and Sensors

In any digital camera, sensors are the most valuable parts. As a matter of fact, you might notice from people around you agreeing that sensors are even more important than megapixels.

And this is for a good reason because the sensor is the essential part of the whole picture taking process as it allows much light to enter the camera, leaving you more settings choices to nail down a perfect shot!

The size of the camera sensor is the number you find in phone specifications expressed in inches such as 1/2″ or 1/3″. Different phones have different kinds of sensors, but those we find in smartphone cameras are extremely small.

There are two types of sensors in digital cameras: Charge-Coupled Device and Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor.

The first one, CCD, is the more traditional one. In a CCD sensor, light is captured and then converted into a charge and accumulates directly in the photo sites.

The only difference is that with CMOS sensors, the charge and the amplification of the voltage occur right inside each photo site, whereas in CCD, the entire process happens one row at a time.

CMOS uses less power, which makes it perfect for smartphone cameras.

If you don’t want anything else except accurate colors and marvelous results, you might want to consider vivo X60 Series with its Pixel Shift technology.

3. Aperture

Aperture relates to the size of the opening through which light comes in a camera and is measured in f-stops. A smaller f-stop means a wider opening and more light that can reach the camera sensor. By so far, you might start seeing the bigger picture. All the parts are tightly connected and substantial for a good camera.

vivo X70 series are rare phones out there that have an unbelievably small aperture of f/1.15, allowing you to get the lightest out of your surrounding setting.

4. ISO and Shutter Speed

Internation Organization of Standardization or short ISO is a setting that allows you to adjust the brightness of your photos by releasing an electronic signal that hits the sensor of the camera. So, the ISO speed determines how sensitive your camera is to incoming light.

When it comes to shutter speed, it is the speed at which the camera shutter closes. For example, a shutter speed of 1/50 means that the sensor will capture the image for 1 fiftieth of a second.

ISO and shutter speed refer to the same concept, where a shorter exposure time means a faster shutter speed.

5. Image Stabilization

The purpose of image stabilization is to minimize the effects of shaking on your photos. Without image stabilization, any movement you make, no matter how small it is, can be picked up by the camera and ruin your shot.

It is one of the often cases many people complain regard smartphone cameras. But depending on the model, make, and vintage of the camera or lens, image stabilization lets you capture sharp pictures at a few times slower shutter speeds than previously possible. In short, image stabilization allows you only to capture sharp images of purely static subjects at slower speeds.

6. HD and 4K

Although 4K generally refers to HD, there is a big difference between these two.

4K is a display that contains at least 8 million active pixels. Unlike regular HD that has 1920 x 1080, 4K supports 3840 x 2160 pixels. As you can see, 4K has twice as many pixels as regular HD.

This means that by shooting with 4K, you can make your HD photos and videos look better than you would get with lower resolution.

7. RAW Format

RAW format images are photographers’ best friends because they offer useful and limitless processing options that are a prerequisite for any further and serious editing.

When you snap a picture, your mobile phone is not just recording what you see – there is an array of other information behind that: the saturation, exposure, contrast, and so on and so forth.

In short, the RAW format is a format in which you have your pictures ready on your phone. Although pictures in RAW format are bigger than those in JPG and other compressed files, they have more data stored in the file.

8. Software and Apps

Some companies harness software to deliver improved zoomed in results without using a periscope or telephoto camera. Some brands combine software and periscope/telephoto camera to zoom even better (also known as hybrid zoom).

Hybrid zoom is not as good as a camera with a specific zoom factor but is way better than a camera with only zoom software.

For smartphone devices, there are literally thousands of apps you can use to do everything you want, from turning photos into a funny gift to adding weird cartoon eyes. And with a 44 megapixels Eye Autofocus that prevents annoying blurry pictures, vivo V21e is ideal for new age photo shooters.

9. Large Screen

Since there is no traditional viewfinder, you have to hold your device with 2 hands.

This logically means that the bigger the screen is, the more you are able to see. And that’s not all. Larger screens require higher resolution, so ultimately you get better and sharper pictures.

You might want to take a peek at vivo V21e because of its large touchscreen display that comes in 6.44-inches and powerful main camera of 64 megapixels.

10. Additional Features

Most smartphones cameras have plenty of additional built-in features. And if you are one of those people who prefer all-in-one features like HDR, panorama, Dual-LED, shooting in burst mode, and liquid cooling pipes so you can get as many pictures as you want, take a look at vivo V20 Pro.

Be the Next Smartphone Image Master

Your little niece’s birthday party, the new food place down the block, or even that difficult hike you took last month, there are so many opportunities that arise for professional smartphone photos.

Here are some little tricks to become the next smartphone image master:

1. Natural Light Is Your Friend

Natural lighting is always the best choice for smartphone photography – save the flash for the paparazzi. The organic light around you is the best for the authentic and untouched look, which is why vivo X70 with its & f/1.15 is the winner without parallel for shooting photos like a professional photographer even if you are not one!

2. Edit Your Photos to Get That WOW Factor

There’s no doubt that each of us uses apps to edit photos. The ability to save presets and flexibility of options makes photo editing super easy, which exactly is what vivo V21e has to offer.

3. Avoid Capturing Shaky Photos

If you want to nail perfect selfies, forget about moving your phone while capturing. Or wait… You can get vivo V21 5G with optical image stabilization and get rid of blurry pictures once and forever.

4. Stay Tuned with vivo

Learn more news and guides to receive vivo’s latest ongoings and special offers in our blogs.

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