Technology Coming Together for High-Quality Cell Phone Pics

Analysts have been predicting for several years that gradual improvements in lens and sensor technology for what are politely called "mass consumer cameras" (that is, the integrated cameras on things like cell phones), combined with the constantly falling cost of advanced processing technologies, would result in a "meeting in the middle" of sorts, making consistent, printable images from cell phone cameras a reality.

While this still may not be the year, Kodak's recent announcement of a new 5 megapixel high-ISO CMOS sensor for integrated cameras using the popular 1/4-inch sensor size has some promise.

With its re-engineered sensor design, the new unit promises higher low-light performance, with ISO 800 images from Kodak's sensor comparing favorably against ISO 200 performance from traditional cell phone cameras.

Not Just Sensors

Combine these sorts of sensor-side innovations with news from processor companies like Zoran (who makes the image processing technology for several of the major camera and cell phone companies) who are offering last year's DSLR processor performance at a price suited to budget compacts this year, and it doesn't take an analyst to see where this is all heading.

In terms of the bigger picture, cell phone cameras have heretofore mostly been viewed as novelties by the imaging industry, and this level of high-profile R&D seems to mark a significant change in priorities and direction going forward.

While I think that the skepticism of companies like Nikon and Canon toward integrated-camera devices is well placed in some ways, it's not as though multifunction devices are going to make the compact camera obsolete among all snapshot takers.

Still, the amount of active development currently focused on making the images from cell phones and other mobile devices as usable as they are convenient probably means we'll see a big breakthrough here soon.