TI's OMAP-DM5x coprocessors promise 20MP cameraphones, 720p recording and freedom from heartache
By Darren Murph 
posted October 16th 2009 9:26AM
posted October 16th 2009 9:26AM
[Via LetsGoDigital]
posted October 16th 2009 9:26AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
It might be powerful... but what about the battery life? I saw about 2hrs or less of actual talk time with something this good.
*say
When this comes out, phones will drain power from the sun, the wind, your human body heat, and urine.
I would not sweat about it.
It's only a coprocessor. It's not powered when you place a call. It just handles the multimedia functions.
It would be great to send 20 MP pictures on AT&Ts MMS system !
and if you did sweat about it, that would probably power it a little too.
Why the hell would you want a 20 MP camera on your phone? What, are you going to do? Print giant posters?
for catching nippleslips at events...
yeah that's the only use i could come up with
The more MP, the better the phone... Didn't you get the memo?
People have an obsession to carry big things in their pockets with big measurements. Somehow, it impresses more to say "mine is 20 MP" than to say "Mine is 1.3 MP" - even if you only use about 5MP to have a great memory of the event.
@DarKlar: "The more MP, the better the PHONE... Didn't you get the memo?"
How's that work? i dun get it. By having 100 Mp camera eventho the calldrop rate goes upto 50% and battery last for 2 hrs, its still considered a good phone???
LOGIC FAIL
The same thing you would do with a 2MP camera phone, but with significantly larger storage requirements. However, you might have a slightly better chance of making something out of a 20MP Mr. Blurry cam shot with all those extra out of focus, horribly lit pixels to scour over.
@nartoab
HUMOUR FAIL!!!
Storage would be a problem with that much data. And a 20MP image is really a waste without it being an SLR camera.
@ nartoab, dude - look up the definition of sarcasm.
@Matej Bajan,
Mega pixel numbers are just the marketing speak phone (or camera) manufacturers use to dupe consumers into thinking their product is better than the other's product. When you cram 20,000,000 pixels onto a sensor as small as a camera phone's sensor you get some pictures with a lot of noise and low dynamic range. And huge file sizes to boot. But you get that "20MP" printed on the outside, I guess thats what the sheeple want.
This is going to be so noisy it's going to make the snow on an analog tv look like an HD digital picture.
How do you know? Have you seen one? Are you on the TI Development Team? What are the facts based on the research on page 23-56 that make you assume that?
Have you ever actually seen a picture from a cell phone? The quality is terrible. The sensor is too small to produce a picture that large, so all you get is a lot of noise. While I certainly believe that they'll get 20 MP, I doubt they'll match the quality of even a cheap point and shoot.
Improving picture quality from phones requires improvements to optics as well as image processing. TI can't be held responsible for driving new technology in image processing, just because other parties aren't driving innovation in small-scale optics. Agreed that this chip is serious overkill for current phone lenses/sensors, but some day those lenses and sensors will be up to the task of producing good 20MP images, and TI will be able to chill out because they've done their homework already.
A new Nokia N82 coming?
more like N1000 ;)
At least they're not promising to cure cancer.
20MP camera... and people will actually think they need this even they won't see much of a difference. Quality over quantity.
what's it gonna be? 50Mb per picture???
For frak sake! 5mpix is ENOUGH! max 8...
...okay, okay, maybe 10 or 12 but that's it!!
12 shall be the maximum number of MP and the maximum number shall be 12, 13 being right out!
I'll never give up my .001 MP Brownie!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownie_%28camera%29
Wow, that would go great in the next iPhone along with onboard 500GB memory and 10" screen with 2560p resolution just to name a few of the specs.
20 MP camera, 500 GB memory in a phone, 10" screen w/ 2560p resolution? Keep dreaming...
People forget that SENSOR SIZE is what matters in cameras, not megapixels. Sensor size is almost always the limiting factor, which is why good cameras like DSLRs have massive sensors. Cell phone sensors are like 1/20th the size!
And don't forget the optics. Collecting light through a pin-hole? It doesn't matter if your sensor is a square meter.
There is a reason why the glass for my DSLR cost (much) more than the body.
I winder if this will be superior to $49 iPhone 3g.
It's starting to be overhyped. Agree?
> 20 megapixel imaging to handsets
RAGE
Cmon 20MP?!
I'll take great 8mp shots with a small 3-5X zoom lenses and real 720P.
20MP OMG PIXELS DONT MATTER COME ONNNN!!!!!
3MP IS ENOUGH OMG!! 20MP WHO NEEDS DAT?*????!!
...
Seriously, is there anything else you guys can do?
We get it, pixels don't equal good quality. Now move the fuck on, please.
A 20 megapixel sensor on a 3mm plastic lens. There is a reason why many SLR lenses cost more than the DSLR camera bodies they are used with. It is the glass that matters!
It is not the MPix that counts in the camera/smartphone, it is the quality of the lens and it's ability to autofocus. Having more MPix with a bad lens does not improve the picture quality. I hope as much attention is focused on this matter.
No optical zoom = no deal.
Mmm, put this in a Pre.