February 27, 2004
Cameraphones and Digital Cameras' Pixel Rate Race
In a sign of the pitfalls resulting from converging technologies, Korea's major handset makers have sped up development of camera phones featuring 2-million-pixel resolution, posing a threat to digital camera makers, according to The Korea Herald.
"Mainstream camera phones come with 300,000-pixel resolution, whose photo quality is poor compared with mainstream digital cameras that offer 2 million to 3 million pixels.
But Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. have already introduced 1-million-pixel camera phones and plan to roll out 2-million-pixel models in the first half of this year, sounding an alarm to digital camera manufacturers such as Sony, Canon, Olympus and Nikon.
More powerful camera phones are prompting digital camera manufacturers to forge new strategies. While a majority of digital camera users opt for 2-million to 3-million-pixel models, manufacturers are hurrying to shift the trend toward greater resolution and more photography features.
To find a breakthrough, Canon and other brands are moving this year to focus on 4 million to 5 million pixels for photography-savvy users and 8 million pixels for professionals. "
See also Alan Reiter's's take on the above.
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