iPad 2 camera has less resolution than display
Apparently, the better of the two cameras in the new Apple iPad 2 has set a record of sorts, although not one that is likely to make anyone proud. Still, it is a first and should be recognized as such.
All digital cameras have a maximum resolution at which photos can be taken and another at which they can be displayed. In all other cameras, according to Nelso.com, the former is greater than the latter. Although all the details of the iPad 2 cameras are not yet known, and will not be until the new iPad is released and torn down by some enterprising tech-blog Web site, this anomaly is likely to be true for the first time in digital camera history.
The camera looking at the user, at least on the iPhone 4, is no great shakes in the resolution area, limited as it is to FaceTime phone calls and other sorts of video conferencing. The rear-facing camera, though, is described on Apple’s Web site as “Back camera: Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still camera with 5x digital zoom.” It can be inferred, then, that the camera is capable of 1280 x 720 resolution, but that the resolution will be toned down to an actual 960 x 720 as it is on the iPod Touch, since the software for both devices is the same.
And, of course, 960 x 720 is smaller than the actual resolution of which the iPad is capable, which is 1024 x 768. One has to wonder how photographs will actually be trimmed and displayed on the iPad 2 when the device appears on the doorsteps of users. One supposes that these sorts of anomalies are inevitable when a new device shakes up the status quo, as the iPad has, but I am just geek enough to find the situation interesting, and I hope you are, as well.
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