Camera megapixel war in smartphones: Picture perfect or just a gimmick?

Agencies
October 22, 2019

In 2012, Nokia, which was at the top of the mobile industry, brought 808 PureView, a Symbian operating system (OS)-based smartphone with an insane 41MP camera that created quite a buzz.

Since then, Android-based smartphones started gaining traction and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) began adding more megapixels to the cameras to lure the crowd.

Now Chinese smartphone makers have sounded the bugle for a megapixel war and the users are in for some sweet deals as camera sensors grow in specifications at affordable price points.

In India, Realme, which initially started off as a subsidiary of Chinese handset maker OPPO, became the first to introduce a 64MP camera smartphone -- Realme XT -- few weeks ago followed by Xiaomi, which has recently unveiled its Redmi Note 8 Pro with 64MP.

Samsung has even created a 108MP sensor for upcoming smartphones.

As many as 50 per cent of smartphones sold globally will have three or more camera sensors by the end of 2021, says Counterpoint Research.

According to industry experts, it is an attempt by the brands to differentiate themselves from competition and remain at the top of the consumers' mindshare.

"It should be seen as a marketing plank, which enables brands to showcase innovation for a feature which is important for smartphone consumers these days," Navkendar Singh, Research Director-Devices and Ecosystem, India & South Asia, International Data Corporation (IDC) told IANS.

These numbers indicate the availability of the sensor size at a cost that can let smartphone brands bring it in a model at affordable price points.

"In early 2020, we should expect launches with 92MP and 108MP in the market. Beyond a certain megapixel capability, a normal consumer cannot feel the difference in the photograph purely from a megapixel viewpoint," Singh noted.

According to Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi was at the second spot with a 17 per cent share in the Rs 15,001-Rs 20,000 price segment in India in Q2 2019, while Realme ranked sixth with 6 per cent share in the same period.

However, Realme inched up to the fourth position with 12 per cent market share, whereas Xiaomi slipped to the fifth spot with a share of 9 per cent in July-August.

"In Q2 2019, 14 per cent smartphones shipped with 48MP lens cameras and 70 per cent with two or more rear cameras.

"However, merely adding a bigger megapixel sensor does not determine higher picture quality," Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research told IANS.

There are multiple factors, such as the lens, the size of the aperture, Image Signal Processor (ISP), software algorithms, AI, etc. which come into play while determining the quality of the picture.

"The tech advancements, exemplified by Samsung eISOCELL Bright GW1', the 64MP image sensor, used by the likes of Realme and Xiaomi, are essentially pushing the envelope for better, low light HDR photography and brighter, detailed photographs mimicking very closely the human eye vision," Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, told media.

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News Network
March 18,2020

San Francisco, Mar 18: Facebook said a bug in its anti-spam system temporarily blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus. Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Tuesday that the company was working on a fix for the problem.

Users complained that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak were blocked by the company's automated system.

Later on Tuesday, Rosen tweeted that Facebook had restored all the incorrectly deleted posts, which also covered topics beyond the coronavirus.

Rosen said the problems were unrelated to any changes in Facebook's content-moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to questions on the status of Facebook's content moderators, many of whom do not work directly for the company and are not always able to work from home.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said.

The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols.

Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation of the factory premises, it said.

The factories need to maintain a sanitisation routine every two-three hours especially in the common areas that include lunch rooms and common tables which will have to be wiped clean with disinfectants after every single use, it added.

For accommodation, the NDMA said, sanitisation needs to be performed regularly to ensure worker safety and reduce the spread of contamination.

To minimise the risk, it is important that employees who work on specific equipment are sensitised and made aware of the need to identify abnormalities like strange sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding or other potentially hazardous signs which indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown, it said.

At least 11 people lost their lives and about 1,000 others were exposed to a gas leak at a factory in Andhra Pradesh''s Visakhapatnam on May 7.

The incident took place after it restarted operations when the government allowed industrial activities in certain sectors following several weeks of lockdown.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. The lockdown was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Washington D.C: One of the greatest spectacles of modern art is still thriving in the Australian outback as confirmed by satellite imagery of NASA. The Marree Man is a massive geoglyph depicting an aboriginal hunter, that spans over 2.6 miles in the Southern Australian region.

Discovered by a pilot in 1998, its origin still remains a mystery even to this date.

The Marree Man was given a new lease of life in 2016 when a group of people from the neighboring town of Marree plowed its lines to avert its fading due to erosion.

After NASA shared the image of the art-work that was taken in June, the efforts of the good samaritans turned out to be a total success, reported CNN Travel.

The restoration team believes that the refurbished Marree Man would last longer than its original version.

According to NASA, "They [the team] created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation. They hope that eventually, the man will turn green."

In a previous article, CNN reported that an entrepreneur by the name of Dick Smith took upon himself to unravel the geoglyph's mystery in 2016. His team combed through all the available evidence but couldn't find anything conclusive.

In 2018 he even offered a 5,000 Australian dollar reward for anyone who knows the identity of its creator.

Nobody turned up with an answer but it was speculated that unknown artist lives in Alice Springs or even might be an American.

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