1 Million Pixel Image Review: Refuse to be gaudy, this time just look at the photos.

Last September, Samsung released the third-generation 1-megapixel sensor HM2. The size of this sensor is 1/1.52 inch, and the unit pixel size is .7 μ m.

not long after the release of this sensor, Redmi Note 9 Pro was officially released, and Redmi launched this sensor in the Note series, which has always been known as the "cost-effective machine".

In the last two months, Glory 5 Series and vivo S1 Pro have been launched one after another, both equipped with this Samsung HM2 sensor.

so what are the differences of the same camera sensor in the hands of different manufacturers and models with different configurations?

today, let's get rid of the auxiliary camera and the fancy image function, and see how the main cameras of these three models perform in taking pictures.

daytime shooting

generally speaking, in order to take into account the size of the image, the default shooting will not directly produce 1 million pixels of pictures. Samsung HM2 adopts the technology of nine pixels in one, that is, the size of a single pixel is equivalent to 2.1μm, and then the default output image size of 12 million pixels is synthesized.

next, make a sample. From left to right, the photos are Redmi Note 9 Pro, Glory 5 Pro and vivo S1 Pro. If you forget the order, you can also see the watermark in the lower left corner.

judging from the first set of proofs, it is probably because the processor performance of vivo S1 Pro is better than the other two models (Tianji 11), and the performance in details is slightly better than the other two models.

in addition, in the highlight suppression in the upper right corner of the picture, the lighting performance of vivo S1 Pro is softer.

In terms of color performance, Glory 5 Pro has the best reproduction performance, and controls the color richness and white balance of the shot picture better than the other two models.

in contrast, the color of vivo S1 Pro is more stylized, and the slightly yellowed film looks like a faint oil painting filter.

and vivo S1 Pro will increase the exposure of the whole picture by one gear, making it look brighter and more transparent. Doing this under the premise of proper highlight control is also a small skill to enhance the impression.

and Redmi Note 9 Pro's performance in color is quite erratic. In the case of comfortable ambient light, Redmi Note 9 Pro raises the color saturation, which is simply "too bright".

when there are obvious highlights in the background, such as lights and strong lights, Redmi Note 9 Pro will appear some fogging phenomenon, and the picture seems to be covered with a layer of faded traces.

multiple zoom

due to the relatively high cost of the 1-megapixel sensor, Redmi Note 9 Pro, Glory 5 Pro and vivo S1 Pro are not equipped with optical telephoto lenses in the image module. Therefore, the heavy responsibility of multiple zooming naturally falls on the main camera.

Samsung HM2 sensor itself has the feature of 3x lossless zoom, so there is not much difference in the details of the three models within 2x.

1-fold proof

2-fold proof

However, under the imaging with more than 5 times zoom, the details of the three models began to show a gap. There is obvious noise in the picture of Redmi Note 9 Pro, while Glory 5 Pro is the best among the three, followed by vivo S1 Pro.

5x proof

1x proof

In this way, the multiple zoom of Glory 5 Pro is really the "tall" among the three models.

however, I have to say no more. Redmi and vivo operate vertically when zooming at multiple times, and the right thumb completely controls the zoom and presses the shutter in one go.

The glory zoom operation is placed horizontally at the bottom of the interface, and it is not so convenient to use both hands when operating.

admittedly, under the condition that the maximum magnification is more than 3 times and 6 times, the horizontal zoom can bring more operation space and zoom more accurately. However, in a model with the highest zoom factor of only 1 times, such as Glory 5 Pro, the horizontally placed zoom operation becomes a bit awkward.

high pixel mode

if you want a single photo to have high resolution, you can turn on "high pixel mode" and let the mobile phone directly output 1 million pixel images.

It should be noted that the high pixel mode requires a lot of computing power when shooting and imaging, so the time from pressing the shutter to finally outputting photos is related to the performance of the mobile phone.

from the actual experience, vivo S1 Pro is the fastest, followed by glory 5 Pro, but the two are almost the same. The slowest is Redmi Note 9 Pro, which takes about 2 seconds each time.

let's look at the imaging performance.

Redmi Note 9 Pro–1 million pixels

Glory 5 Pro–1 million pixels

Vivo S1 Pro–1 million pixels

From the actual imaging point of view, The details of Glory 5 Pro and vivo S1 Pro are at a satisfactory level after multiple magnification, while Redmi Note 9 Pro may be limited by processor performance, and there are more noises after cropping and magnification.

night scene imaging

come to the night scene section. As mentioned earlier, Samsung HM2 achieved the effect of equivalent 2.1μm per pixel through the nine-pixel synthesis technology, which also means that the imaging in the dark scene is more pure and delicate.

coupled with dual native ISO technology, it automatically switches to high ISO mode at night, ensuring high-quality shooting level.

in the default mode, the night scene performance of the three models is different.

firstly, vivo S1 Pro with a series of night scene algorithms. Vivo has always been solid in the night scene algorithm, but with the blessing of Samsung HM2 nine pixels in one, the night scene performance is excellent.

in addition, the image processing technique of vivo S1 Pro, which has always been "forcing highlights+improving the brightness of the image", makes the imaging impression pleasing enough.

Although Glory 5 Pro is a little weaker than vivo S1 Pro in the night scene, highlight suppression is a weakness. However, the dark details and the overall performance of the picture are satisfactory on the horizontal line, which is also worthy of praise.

Redmi Note 9 Pro may be limited by performance, and the dark details are basically lost. However, the highlight suppression is done well, and it can be counted as a little score.

when the night scene mode is turned on, the mobile phone will take in more light information by extending the exposure time, thus lowering the highlights and increasing the details of the picture.

in this link, vivo S1 Pro has gone further on the basis of its original good performance.

the glory 5 Pro extended the exposure time to about 4 seconds, which is the longest among the three models (vivo S1 Pro is less than 1 second, and Redmi Note 9 Pro is 2 3 seconds).

It is precisely because of the more light information obtained that it has more advantages in the processing process, and Glory 5 Pro is also the best one in the contrast between light and shade.

after turning on the night scene mode, the imaging performance of Redmi Note 9 Pro has obviously improved a lot. However, in the case of more lights, the phenomenon of atomization appeared again, and the dark part turned white.

What I have to vomit is that both vivo and Glory put the "Night Scene Mode" in the first-level menu of the camera interface, which can be opened with a single stroke; Redmi, on the other hand, puts the "night scene mode" in the secondary interface, so it is quite cumbersome to click "more" and then "night scene mode" when opening it.

originally, shooting night scenes in the default mode of Redmi Note 9 Pro was not excellent, and the "night scene mode" was further hidden, some of which were unreasonable.

Summary

From the appearance of the concept of 1 million pixels in mobile phone photography to now, the debate on "right or wrong direction" has never stopped. But children argue about right and wrong, and adults only care about whether it works or not.

the location of the mobile phone imaging system is so big that it is difficult to match the professional camera no matter how much material is piled up.

Therefore, how to create a beautiful shooting experience with sufficient space in the later stage through the deep cooperation between hardware and algorithm is one of the key issues that mobile phone manufacturers need to consider when polishing the image system.

1 million pixels need enough processor performance and hard-core algorithm to lay the foundation for imaging effect.

I don't object to "1 million pixels", but if we blindly pursue high pixels and ignore the actual use effect, I can hardly say that this direction is right.