What is MegaPixel? Why Megapixel is not as important as you think.

What is the main feature you look at while buying a mobile phone or DSLR camera? Well, most people just look at its Megapixel. But, Megapixel should not be considered as the major deciding factor. There are also other factors that affect the picture quality. So, let us discuss What is Megapixel and Why Megapixel is not as important as you think.

Most people still think having higher Megapixels means getting better quality pictures. It is true, to an extent, but not entirely. There are also other factors that affect the picture quality. Some people even compare mobile phone cameras with DSLR. But if you notice, a DSLR with a 5 MP camera has better quality images than a 12 MP mobile camera. You might be asking Why? To understand it better, you must first know What is MegaPixel?

What is Megapixel?

Megapixels is the short form of Million Pixel. It means 1 Megapixel has 1 Million Pixels. Similarly, a 64 Megapixel camera has 64 Million Pixels in it. A camera has several components, and a sensor is one of them. The sensor contains several pixels that capture a part of the area with details like light, color, contrast, etc.

For example, a 1 MP camera has 1152 x 864 pixels in horizontal and vertical alignment. If you multiply 1152 with 862, you will get nearly 1 million pixels. That is why it is called a 1 Megapixel camera. Also, the pixels can capture only Red, Green, and Blue Color. Any other color you see in an image is a mix of these three colors. 

The camera will finally process the information captured by pixels and display you as an image. Having more Pixels will give you a more detailed picture. When you zoom in on the image, you can see more details. But, at the beginning of this article, I told you that Megapixels do not matter as much as you think. Why is that? Let us discuss more on that. 

Why Megapixels doesn’t matter?

Let’s understand that:

• 1 MP camera has 1152 x 864 pixels in it.
• 2 MP camera has 1600 x 1200 pixels.
• 8 MP camera has 3456 x 2304 pixels.
• 12 MP camera has 4000 x 3000 pixels.

So, for example, if you buy a phone with an 8 MP camera, it has 8 million pixels. And you got another mobile with 12 MP, which means it has 12 million pixels. But, if the size of the sensor is the same in both phones, you will not see much improvement in the image quality. It is because the manufacturer of the 12 MP camera phone has stuffed 12 million pixels in the same area. To do that, they must reduce the pixel size. 

Hence, smaller pixels fail to capture more details like lighting, contrast, and color. Due to this, you may not get the quality you were expecting. Therefore, increasing only the pixels count will not improve the image quality. Manufacturers also need to increase the size of the sensor along with the pixels. However, increasing the pixel size will let you capture the image in higher resolution.

Check out these images below. The left one has 2400 x 1228 pixels, and the right image has 1200 x 614 pixels. You cannot see a major difference here, because your desktop or mobile has a lower resolution. But, if you print both images for banners, you can see the difference.

Share this article with your family and friends, so that they can understand What is Megapixel, and why it is not as important as you think.

Benefits of having higher Megapixels:

It’s not like Megapixels are the worst factor. Megapixels do matter in some cases. When you capture the image using a 2 MP camera, it has a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels. Therefore, you can watch the captured image on Mobile devices, laptops, desktops, and TV without any quality loss. 

But, if you plan to use the image for billboards, banners, and posters, you will not get a pretty view. In such cases, you need to capture the image using a higher megapixel camera. Megapixels can also make a huge difference if you want to zoom in. Higher Megapixel cameras are used on Traffic Signals so that the cops can capture, zoom, and see the license plate of any car.

Check out this video:

Having more Megapixels means higher resolution. But the higher resolution does not mean better quality. There are also other factors you need to consider for getting better quality pics.

Factors you need to consider to capture better quality images:

So, we have convinced you that Megapixels are not the deciding factor. Then what is? There are many factors that come into play to capture better quality images. First of all, you need to look at the sensor size. Almost all mobile phones have the same size sensors, except a few. But, you won’t find camera specs on online shopping websites or the product box. You should go to the product’s official website to find the sensor details. 

Besides that, lens size and the camera software also matters. If you notice, iPhones have better picture quality than other mobile phones. Even if you pick two phones with the same Megapixels and camera sensors, you will still like the images captured from an iPhone. It is because the image processing software of the iPhone is really good. 

It is a challenge to choose a mobile phone with better quality images because they don’t mention many details about the camera specs. However, if you are buying a DSLR camera, you will find every single detail of the camera.

DSLR Vs Mobile Phones Vs Digital Camera?

People use different devices to capture images, like a mobile phone, DSLR camera, or digital camera. But, a 32 MP mobile camera cannot capture better quality images than a 12 MP DSLR camera. Why is that? Let us discuss.

As we mentioned above, mobile phone manufacturers stuff more pixels into smaller sensors, due to which the size of the pixels is reduced. Whereas in DSLR cameras, the size of the sensor is huge.

Suppose you captured a couple of images using a 4 MP DSLR camera and a 12 MP mobile phone. The image quality of 4 MP DSLR will be a lot better than the image captured using a 12 MP mobile phone. Digital Cameras are almost similar to mobile phone cameras. The sensor size of a Digital camera is almost the same as a mobile phone sensor. 

Whereas, the sensor and lens size of a DSLR is 10 times bigger than the mobile phone sensor. You cannot compare a DSLR with a mobile phone or digital camera. Images captured by DSLR are the best. However, not everyone can operate DSLR cameras. You have to learn before using it. 

Therefore, if you capture images occasionally, and you don’t want to spend money on it, then you can go for a mobile phone camera. If you are a photographer, who likes to capture beautiful landscapes of nature, you should buy a DSLR without a second thought.

Frequently Asked Question on Megapixels

Conclusion:

These days, Megapixel is becoming a marketing material for mobile phone manufacturers. They promote their mobile phones with the number of pixels on their smartphone. But, they are not going to reveal the other factors that affect the picture quality. Having more Megapixels will give better resolution pictures, but not better quality. A good camera provides better colors, shadows, low-light performance, and noise reduction. Also, check out for optical zoom and image stabilization features. 

I hope you now understand What is Megapixel. Tell us, what factor do you look at before purchasing a camera?