Do more megapixels mean a better camera?

A lot of people are under the illusion that more megapixels mean a better camera, but does it?

Huawei has just announced their new flagship devices: the P20 and P20 Pro. They both feature a 25-megapixel front camera, is this just a marketing gimmick or do more megapixels mean a better camera?

Big Fact or Big Myth, investigates the question “Do more megapixels mean a better camera?”

We want to learn:

• Do more megapixels mean more quality on a phone camera?

Megapixels are a unit of visual resolution equivalent to 1 million. The more megapixels a camera has, the larger the image resolution can be, while megapixels do matter on a camera, it is only until a certain point. For example, a 4K monitor just has 8 megapixels meaning that it cannot display more than 8 megapixels unless downsized!

Marketers use megapixels as a marketing gimmick, the more megapixels their phone has, the better it sounds and will give you a greater sense of ‘upgrading’. There are phones from years ago that have more megapixels than a Samsung Galaxy S8, but you wouldn’t compare with the Samsung for photo quality. Digital Photo Secrets touch up on that fact very well

If you only enjoy your photos on your computer screen, or uploading to a photo website to share with friends, you really only need a 1 megapixel camera. That is because your computer monitor is usually about 2000×1000 pixels = 2 megapixels! 4k monitors still only have 8 megapixels – Digital Photo Secrets

To conclude, it is a MYTH that a higher megapixel count means a better camera (on your phone). However, when we go above 4k monitors, we may find this is where our 8-megapixel camera needs updating.

Most camera phones have more than enough megapixels to take brilliant photos, the main factors of a good camera are; lens size, the camera processing software, quality of the sensor and the shutter speed.

Want us to look into a Myth or Fact, or disagree with our verdict? Let us know in the comments below!