How to match, is the right direction for mobile phone multi-camera combination?
Over the years, the development of smart phone imaging technology, multi-camera has become a photo solution recognized by everyone, but to elaborate, most consumers' cognition of multi-camera only stays at the level of quantity and design, and how they are combined and how they work together is somewhat confusing.
We often hear in the mouth of digital enthusiasts that the main camera/wide-angle/telephoto of a mobile phone uses a CERTAIN CMOS (sensor), how many pixels it has, how large the area is, in fact, this is a simple summary of the multi-camera combination. At the same time, it can also be seen in this sentence that the image sensor is usually "specialized in the art industry", such as the Samsung GN2, which is a model with a large outsole and large pixels, which is a typical main camera sensor, if placed in the ultra-wide angle end, it is too large and underused.
Image configuration for iQOO 9 Pro
However, with the release of the new generation of Snapdragon 8 flagship, there is an exception, which is the recent frequent appearance of Samsung JN1, the magic of this sensor is that sometimes it is used in ultra-wide angle, sometimes it can be used as a front camera, and even on some flagship phones that advertise "multi-main camera", you can still see its figure. So what kind of sensor is this, is it really an all-round golden oil, or is it a "tactical lens" for counting?
Which Snapdragon 8 flagships use the JN1
Samsung JN1 was released as early as June last year, but in the second half of last year, the number of mobile phones equipped with JN1 sensors was very small, and before the end of the year, only redmi Note 11 and iQOO Z5x were two little-known low-end models, and it was not until the release of the Snapdragon 8 debut model moto edge X30 that this sensor entered the field of digital enthusiasts. After that, more unexpectedly, with the gradual introduction of a new generation of Snapdragon 8 new machines, the JN1 sensor quickly became the "fragrant food" in the eyes of manufacturers, because many flagships such as Xiaomi 12 Pro, iQOO 9 Pro, OnePlus 10 Pro, and True Self GT2 Pro were invariably equipped with JN1 sensors.
Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro image configuration (JN1 for ultra-wide angle and portrait)
In this group of Snapdragon 8 flagships, JN1 plays the role of ultra-wide angle, of which the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is equipped with two JN1 sensors, in addition to ultra-wide angle, one is used in 48mm focal length portrait lens (mid-focal length). In addition to the Snapdragon 8 model, there is an exception is the vivo S12 Pro released at the end of last year, in this strongest selfie flagship, JN1 is used as a front camera, which can be described as a core selling point of the entire mobile phone with its own strength. All in all, in this year's mobile phone image circle, JN1's recognition is quite high, and it can even be exaggerated, but where a Snapdragon 8 new machine is released, it seems to be indispensable to the figure of JN1, so where is it strong?
Is "Little Bottom" worthy of a flagship co-camera?
Let's start with the parameters, JN1 has 50 million pixels, the light sensitivity area is 1/2.76 inch, and the blunt point is a "small bottom high pixel" sensor. At the same time, it is worth noting that the single pixel size of JN1 is only 0.64 μm, which is Samsung's current single pixel size of the smallest sensor, which means that its package size is very small, very suitable for embedding in the front camera of the mobile phone, so in the ideal situation, JN1 is used as a front camera is the most appropriate, if it is used as a rear camera, in addition to 50 million high pixels, other parameters are not eye-catching, and even some outdated.
Samsung JN1 sensor
I believe that at this point you have understood that the reason why JN1 sensor is widely used by so many flagships is to put it bluntly, there is a 50 million pixel "good name", because in the eyes of many ordinary consumers, high pixels are justice, and the higher the pixel, the better the photo. But the actual situation is that 1/2.76 inch of the photosensitive area and 0.64 μm pixel size, is basically the level of today's bottom, and JN1 also lacks macro function, if you use this sensor to take pictures, the performance in the low light environment will be very stretched, because the number of pixels directly affects the size of the photo, and the photosensitive area and pixel area are determined to a greater extent in the film quality, which is also the truth of "the bottom of the big level crushing people".
Comparison of mainstream CMOS sensor specifications in 2022
So so many flagship machines use JN1, how can they make up for the inherent deficiency of "small bottom". After all, how to say, good evil is for the flagship machine, if the drag down the experience is too uneconomical, so this will mention the multi-pixel integration technology.
Since 48 million pixels became mainstream many years ago, multi-pixel integration technology has become popular, and the principle of this technology is to merge adjacent pixels on the sensor to improve the sensitivity of light for better picture quality photos. In the case of JN1, for example, it supports the "four-in-one pixel" technology, which means that its equivalent pixel size will increase from 0.64 μm to 1.28 μm when taking photos, and the equivalent pixel will also drop to 12.5 million. You may feel that it is not too many pixels lost, but this is precisely the most mainstream and reasonable solution for today's mobile phone images, even 100 million pixels, and even 200 million pixels after that.
Principles of 4-in-1 Pixel Technology (IMX586 as an example)
Is it a reverse upgrade?
But even so, compared with last year's co-camera IMX598, IMX582 and the generation of IMX586 many years ago, JN1's advantages are still not large, and even somewhat regressive. The IMX598 and IMX582 can be seen as an improvement on the IMX586, all three sensors have a 48 million pixel and 1/2 inch light sensing area, their single pixel size is also 0.8μm, the four-in-one equivalent pixel size is 1.6μm, from the parameter point of view, JN1 except for a slightly higher pixel, other than other is not dominant.
Starting from 2019, IMX586 as the main camera has been equipped by a number of flagship machines, including Xiaomi 9, Meizu 16s, OnePlus 7 Pro, OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Edition, Honor 20 Pro, etc. It is also from IMX586 that mobile phone images have officially entered the era of more than 48 million high pixels, and also popularized multi-pixel integration technology.
In the next two years, the IMX586 did not become obsolete, for example, OnePlus started from the 7 series in early 2019 and continued to the 8T at the end of 2020 (a total of 4 iterations), using the IMX586 as the main camera. By 2021, the IMX598 and IMX582, as an improvement to the IMX 586, are also used as main cameras by sub-flagships such as the iQOO Neo5 and Redmi K40. In addition, IMX598 also has a golden oil side, such as in vivo X60/70 Pro+ and iQOO 8 Pro such all-round flagships, but can also be used as a secondary camera, as an ultra-wide angle use, but manufacturers in the promotion, will use the word "multi-main camera" to describe, of course, this is not wrong, after all, the level of IMX598 is indeed worthy of the title of "main camera".
Vivo X60 Pro+ image configuration: IMX598 is used as ultra-wide angle
I thought that according to this situation, the IMX598 level sensor should become the secondary camera standard of the flagship in 2022, but now it is cut off by JN1, so this year's multi-camera of many flagships is actually "reverse upgrade", such as the ultra-wide angle of iQOO 9 Pro from the previous generation of IMX598 to JN1, and the more miserable OnePlus 10 Pro, the ultra-wide angle from the previous generation of praise IMX766 to JN1, this downgrade is not too much to describe with a big dive. Of course, mobile phone manufacturers are not unaware, so they can only find a supplement in the shooting gameplay, in this year's batch of new flagships, realme, iQOO, one plus have launched a fisheye lens on the basis of JN1, which is indeed more than a way to play for photography masters, but for most ordinary users, the starting cost of fisheye lenses is relatively high, and it is not as practical as an excellent ultra-wide angle.
The OnePlus 9 Pro is equipped with an ultra-wide angle IMX766
Multi-camera combinations should go hand in hand
The reason why mobile phone manufacturers do this is actually very simple, naturally out of cost control. In the past two years, the positioning and configuration of the flagship mobile phone has been exploring, and the image configuration is the most core point of strength, but now, the imaging technology has gradually entered the bottleneck period of development, and the marginal effect it has produced has become stronger and stronger, so the mobile phone manufacturers can only change the way of playing, to refine the image algorithm, to develop the ISP chip, and also to shift the focus of the upgrade to the screen, fast charging and other peripheral functions, and as for the image configuration, it is enough to give priority to ensuring that there is a high-quality outsole, so the secondary camera has become a shrunken object.
Therefore, you will find that although many flagships this year are improving in the main camera, the secondary camera is not as difficult to call the balance of the overall image configuration than last year, which means that if consumers want to buy the same excellent mobile phone as the main camera and the secondary camera this year, they may only continue to add money.
Back, let's talk about the ideal multi-camera combination, usually on a mobile phone, with a large outsole main camera + anti-distortion ultra-wide angle (both macro) + 2 to 3 times the medium focus portrait head + 5 to 10 times the periscope telephoto is the most versatile "golden partner". However, this combination is not only costly, but also puts forward very high requirements for the interior design and space of the fuselage, so in the future, such an all-round mobile phone may only be less and less, and in real circumstances, the heavy main camera and light secondary camera have become the embarrassing situation that flagship machines have to face.
Huawei Mate40 Pro+ image configuration
But even so, mobile phone manufacturers should not deliberately widen the experience gap between the main and secondary cameras, but should look for a balance between them, after all, the original intention of the development of mobile phones is to adapt to more shooting scenes, that is, the main and secondary cameras go hand in hand is the right product direction. In addition, mobile phone manufacturers should also establish a correct product view, do not blindly cater to the market, and even use the stereotype of "pixel theory" to "please" consumers, in fact, to some extent, this is also an information asymmetry for consumers, so in the future, with the right products to guide consumers, to guide market demand, is the way to go.
GeekChoice original article