If until a few years ago the technological war came from the hand of the gigahertz of the processors, today the battle comes from the hand of the megapixels, with figures that take us up to 21, 48, 64 and even 108 megapixels in the case of the last Xiaomi launched on the market. We have had the opportunity to test the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro, a terminal that uses a sensor signed by Samsung of no less than 64 megapixels . Will it provide the photographic quality that such a high resolution figure assumes? We check it.
64 vs 16 megapixels, which is better?
Before entering the matter, it is necessary to clarify that the Redmi Note 8 Pro, the terminal that we will use to carry out the photographic tests, captures the images in a resolution of 16 megapixels .
As a general rule, 48, 64 and 108 megapixel images have a weight that the phone is not capable of processing in a fast or normal photography mode. For this reason, the different manufacturers enable a mode designed to obtain photographs at the original resolution of the sensor, a mode that also takes a few seconds depending on which cases to obtain the photograph.
On this basis, we observe that 16 megapixel images have a size of 4,624 x 3,472 pixels , while 64 megapixel images have a resolution of 9,248 x 6,936 pixels . This gives us a total of 16,054,528 pixels in the case of images with 16 megapixels and 64,144,128 pixels in images with 64 megapixels due to the interpolation to four that the sensor performs (64 divided by 4 gives us 16). How does this influence the final quality of the photograph?
Example 1
We start from two apparently the same photographs, with the difference that one of the two is taken at 64 megapixels. The difference in size between one and the other is clear: while the first weighs just over 8 MB , the 64 megapixel image weighs no less than 25.4 MB .
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Image taken at 16 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Image taken at 64 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Roughly we can see that the 16 megapixel image has more contrasting colors , mainly due to the application of Artificial Intelligence than the Camera application active by default.
Image taken at 16 megapixels.
Image taken at 64 megapixels.
In the case of the 64 megapixel image, the colors are somewhat flatter, as are the darkest parts of the image. This is because the 64 megapixel camera mode does not support any modification on the fly. In this way, we will not be able to apply any filters in real time, such as HDR or AI .
Leaving aside the differences in colors, the differences between the detail of the first and second photos are evident. And it is that while in the first the hours of the clock and everything that surrounds the bell tower of the church become illegible and impractical, the second maintains with a more than acceptable detail the relief of the building , the hours of the clock and even the body of the birds that fly over the atrium.
Example 2
We start again with two photographs taken at 16 and 64 megapixels with a size of 7 and 22.9 MB respectively in an environment totally opposite to the previous one. In this case we do not use AI or HDR in any way in the 16 megapixel image : both are taken with the basic configuration of the camera, although in the first the Xiaomi watermark indicates otherwise. For this reason the differences in colors, shades and lights are practically negligible.
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Image taken at 16 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Image taken at 64 megapixels (resized and compressed).
If we talk about the definition of both photographs, the quality of the 64-megapixel sensor once again takes advantage of the possibilities that the camera offers. However, the differences are less palpable than the differences in the first example.
Image taken at 16 megapixels.
Image taken at 64 megapixels.
Yes, the leaves of the three trees that star in the snapshot are somewhat more defined in the image taken in 64 megapixel photography mode. Unfortunately it does not differ much from the image taken with the traditional mode .
Example 3
We come to the undoubtedly most revealing example of the five. The images, taken just a few minutes ago, place us in front of the computer two meters away. The weight of the images? 16.3 and 5.7 MB . The result, however, is practically the opposite of the two previous cases.
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Image taken at 16 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Image taken at 64 megapixels (resized and compressed).
If we bring both images closer to the WordPress text editor we can see that the definition, or at least the detail, is greater in the 16 megapixel image. The letters are more legible and their shapes are somewhat better defined .
Image taken at 16 megapixels.
Image taken at 64 megapixels.
In contrast, the 64-megapixel image has several focusing problems. I have tried taking the same photograph three times and the results are practically identical , even using a surface to support the device.
Example 4
We radically change the scene. In low-light environments, the camera forces certain values in the automatic photography mode to lift the scene, and in both cases the interpretation of colors and lights are similar .
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Image taken at 16 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Image taken at 64 megapixels (resized and compressed).
If we limit ourselves to analyzing the definition of the images, the differences are not as many as we might think . While it is true that an improvement is seen in the shapes and contours of areas such as the entrance door of the building, the ornaments of the windows or the bars of the stairs, the Xiaomi algorithm eats up part of the information , significantly smoothing the relief of the surfaces.
Image taken at 16 megapixels.
Image taken at 64 megapixels.
This is something that is not only projected on the image; also in the weight of the files. And it is that while the image taken with the 64 megapixel camera mode has a size of 15 MB, the 16 megapixel image does not exceed 6 MB; figures that are very far from the previous images due to the loss of information in dark areas and the relief of figures and buildings .
Example 5
We continue with night photography, and in this case with a fairly representative example. In a situation where the 64-megapixel photography mode should take advantage of having enough brightness to avoid the so-called “pixel smoothing” or “butter effect”, the results once again show us what we have been intuiting from the beginning: more megapixels does not always mean higher quality .
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Image taken at 16 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Image taken at 64 megapixels (resized and compressed).
Looking at the details of the main building, we can see that in areas such as the window bars, the facade tiles or the stone walls themselves lose relief and even false textures are generated that differ from the real textures of the elements . In fact, the image taken at a resolution of 16 megapixels saves these details much better.
Image taken at 16 megapixels.
Image taken at 64 megapixels.
It is true that we lose details in some areas such as the architectural decorations on the walls, but the image is much more similar to what our eye perceives. We have tried repeating several shots in 64 megapixel mode but the focus and texture problem persists. We also don't get a substantial upgrade on items like tree leaves or car license plates in the background, so the upgrade is limited to just a few figures .
Conclusion: more megapixels is not always higher quality
The conclusions once analyzed the virtues of the two modes of photography are clear. Is a photograph taken at 64 better than at 16 megapixels? The truth is that not necessarily .
If we are going to capture images of landscapes, nature or buildings or we simply want to make a digital cut to make up for the lack of a telephoto sensor that allows us to perform optical zoom on the images, the original resolution of the sensor can help us obtain greater detail in certain elements of photography.
If, on the other hand, we are going to take pictures where natural light is scarce or the focus point is somewhat complex, the traditional mode can help us obtain better results in general terms; even more so when we can use the HDR and AI mode to correct certain visual protrusions.
Things change if we use the manual mode that the application has. Because we can play with aspects of photography such as focus, exposure time, ISO value or white balance, the camera mode with 64 megapixels can help us take somewhat higher photographs .
Unfortunately, the phone is incompatible with RAW image capture , which makes it lose integers if we want to post-edit images in Lightroom or Photoshop. However, the conclusion is clear: more megapixels does not mean higher photographic quality. The focal aperture, the size of the pixels and the processing of the phone itself can help us to obtain better results than other superior a priori cameras: this has historically been shown by Google with its Pixel range.