What the junk is a CMOS camera? (Cell phone comparison question)

Factual Questions
1

So the NajaHusband just informed me we’re about a year overdue to get new phones, according to our contract. I’ve been perfectly happy with my “just the facts, ma’am” phone, but I suppose if my cell phone company wants to give me a free gadget, I’m not gonna complain. I’m looking over all the phones we’re eligible for, and holy crap, these things are like little baby PCs!

The high-end phones we can get for free are the “Verizon Wireless G’zOne Type-S,” “Samsung SCH-u740,” “Samsung Juke,” “Gleam,” and the “LG enV™,” whatever the holy hell that is.

I’m reading over the blurbs and here’s the first thing that makes me think “hey, that’s me!”

Ready to be dropped, often… yes, sir.

The only other feature that appealed to me was the camera, which might be nice to have handy when out with the hawk. They’ve all got 'em, but this particular phone’s camera is described as a “Built–In 300K CMOS Camera with Flash & Digital Zoom”. The fine print reads “VGA 640 x 480 pixel camera”

What’s the difference between this camera and all the others that just say “2.0 megapixel camera”?

2

Nothing, other than the resolution. 640 x 480 is 307,200 which rounds to 300,000 (hence the 300 k). Most digital cameras these days are CMOS, which has largely supplanted CCD chips for most consumer imaging devices.

3

“2.0 megapixel” means 2 million pixels. 640x480 pixels is 307,200 pixels (0.3 megapixel).

There’s not a huge difference between CCD and CMOS for consumer cameras. CCD can provide better image quality while CMOS tends to be cheaper to implement, but it really depends on the specs and overall quality of the camera.

4

All phone cameras are cmos sensors. This camera you are talking about is a 0.3 mega pixel camera. So the difference is about 1.7 mega pixels.

5

I seem to be mistaken. I found a few phones with ccd cameras.

6

I should clarify that I mean phone digital cameras (and lots of cheap P&S cameras). Decent regular digital cameras are mostly CCD.

7

Well, most, if not all, of the best SLR cameras on the market right now (Nikon D3, Nikon D2X, Nikon D300, Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 5D, etc.) are all CMOS sensors. In the prosumer market, the Canon 40D, 30D, 20D are all CMOS. The Nikon D200, D80, D40, D50, D70 have CCD sensors. Actually, I can’t remember the last Canon dSLR that had a CCD sensor.

8

:smack:
Thanks, I guess I’d just never run across that description before!
So, uh… how well do most new cell phones stand up to being dropped? Or coated in assorted filth? It might be difficult to see in this light, but this poor phone has served a long, hard tour of duty.