Reading mode: Light Dark

With an iphone7 screen res not even 2mp why do DSLR photos look better on them?

Go to last post
S

Seth Delackner

Member
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
Tokyo, Japan, JP
Given that an iPhone 7 screen is just 1334-by-750, not even equivalent to say 2 megapixels, why is it that there does indeed seem to be something just more detailed in my real camera (OMD-EM5 with an old Panasonic 20mm f1.7, the original) vs the photos I take with an iPhone X?

this is speaking purely of viewing the entire image scaled down to display on an iPhone 7 screen, not viewed pixel zoomed in.
 
Last edited:
The iPhone screen is physically very small, but within that small area, the hardware is capable of showing things in great detail.

To see this, take a look at pixel pitches. An iPhone 7 has one of 326 ppi. An iPhone 7 Plus has one of 401 ppi. For comparison,
  • 24" 1080p monitor => 92 ppi
  • 27" 2560x1440 monitor => 109 ppi
  • 24" Ultra HD monitor => 184 ppi
  • 27" 5K monitor => 218 ppi
 
It's an interesting question.

Do you mean in pictures of the same thing you see more detail on the real camera?

Or is it just that the detail is more obvious?

There are lots processing things that could be different that enhance small details
 
Seth Delackner said:
Given that an iPhone 7 screen is just 1334-by-750, not even equivalent to say 2 megapixels, why is it that there does indeed seem to be something just more detailed in my real camera (OMD-EM5 with an old Panasonic 20mm f1.7, the original) vs the photos I take with an iPhone X?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure everyone will agree that DSLR photos always look better on that screen ... though your particular ones seem to look better to you. Could be a number of reasons for that.
 
Last edited:
I think it is just that the details seem more crisp and stand out, for instance the leaves here



on iPhone X:

ee73506f77724be8a82c7d9dfe59826e.jpg


Versus OMD at same time and place:

7a0c3c7d4a0f45fa928c7513ebbd2267.jpg




I suspect the problem is the auto HDR is giving greater shadow DR at the cost of slight loss of sharpness?

i love the extra dynamic range but think I prefer depth of detail.
 
Sure the screen has a fantastic resolution for its size, but that resolution is still not even 3megapixels, maybe 2 I forget. So I am confused to be able to discern differences in images taken with 16 megapixel or higher cameras.

To make the question more extreme, in good light i wonder if a good lens on an old 3mp DSLR would look fine at screen resolution
 
Seth Delackner said:
Sure the screen has a fantastic resolution for its size, but that resolution is still not even 3megapixels, maybe 2 I forget.
Click to expand...
but it's a small screen. It's a rule of thumb that we can't see much improvement past 300 ppi, so a screen above that is going to be able to show about as much detail as the human eye can perceive. As long as there is at least that much detail in the image file, your eye will pick up on the fact that it is a detailed image.
 
"Resolution" as a just a measure of the dimensions of an image here by pixels is confusing. And not helpful here.

As Tom_N noted it's the pixel pitch, the number of pixels crammed into a small area (ie "retina") that makes the difference at a typical iPhone viewing distance. It's the same reason a 4x6 image in a color magazine looks better than a 4x6 in your newspaper (remember those?) even if from the same photo.
 
robgendreau said:
"Resolution" as a just a measure of the dimensions of an image here by pixels is confusing. And not helpful here.

As Tom_N noted it's the pixel pitch, the number of pixels crammed into a small area (ie "retina") that makes the difference at a typical iPhone viewing distance. It's the same reason a 4x6 image in a color magazine looks better than a 4x6 in your newspaper (remember those?) even if from the same photo.
Click to expand...
 
You can do a test. Pick a relative soft image from your camera (not out of focus nor blurry please).

View the image on your monitor using "fit monitor" option. For a 16Mp image your image viewer program will probably shrink the image to around 50% or more.

Then expand the image to view at 1:1 level.

I trust certain level of softness at 1:1 level might be hired up on the shrink to fit monitor image.

Same principle applies to look at a higher resolution image on a smaller resolution screen. A reason when many phone camera users are very happy with the shots from their phone, when posted here and be examined at a more detail level, they simplify falls apart easily.
 
Seth Delackner said:
I think it is just that the details seem more crisp and stand out, for instance the leaves here

on iPhone X:

ee73506f77724be8a82c7d9dfe59826e.jpg


Versus OMD at same time and place:

7a0c3c7d4a0f45fa928c7513ebbd2267.jpg


I suspect the problem is the auto HDR is giving greater shadow DR at the cost of slight loss of sharpness?

i love the extra dynamic range but think I prefer depth of detail.
Click to expand...
I would just say that the phone has done a terrible job here. It looks like the the lense needed a wipe. What I see is a lack of contrast. A bit of post processing might help.



--
www.flickr.com

John Clinch

Explore John Clinch’s 1,859 photos on Flickr!
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com

Flickriver: John Clinch's most interesting photos

Flickriver - view images as a 'river of photos' and more...
www.flickriver.com www.flickriver.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top