This year we’ve seen three midrange phones sport a 48-megapixel rear camera in India — Vivo V15 Pro, OPPO F11 Pro, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro. The on-paper number war has been going for years and we’ve seen phone makers play around with internal storage as well as the RAM.
With the current 48-megapixel offering, brands have tried to lure users by numbers. They take this a step further by merging four pixels into one for low-light shots, and in turn deliver sharper pictures with better details. Every brand wants to establish itself as a smartphone photography expert, but, what’s the limit in this number game?
Even before we can think of a number, Qualcomm has revised specifications of its processors. XDA Developers was the first one to discover this, and the updated spec sheet includes better single and dual camera capabilities, advanced slo-mo recording, and a new feature called Hybrid Autofocus. But, what stands out the most is the support of sensors up to 192-megapixel.
The list of chipsets to now support 192-megapixel picture captures are Snapdragon 670, Snapdragon 675, Snapdragon 710, Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 855. Before you get all amped up, please note that this is just a theoretical value. Don’t expect a 192-megapixel phone soon since there are a host of challenges to overcome.
Firstly, you’d have to get your hands on a 192-megapixel lens and there are none available right now. Sensors that support this resolution cannot be suddenly squeezed down to fit in an ultra-portable smartphone. Secondly, the chipsets can support a single 192-megapixel lens only, and cannot be accompanied by a secondary lens or even a front camera.
On the other end of the spectrum, Nokia is trying a new approach of adding different lenses onto a single phone. The Nokia 9 houses five rear cameras with Zeiss certified lenses, that are joined by three 12-megapixel monochrome sensors and two 12-megapixel RGB sensors.
