iPhone 3.0 beta caught hiding video editing graphics?
The founder of Austrian site Benm.at claims to have found multiple unused graphical controls that relate directly to video editing. Among the controls are grab points that would let users define the start and end of clips as well as repeating, tile graphics and references to an 'edit bar.'
Brought to English readers through Gizmodo, the rumor doesn't yet show an actual video editor but further supports evidence of video capturing as a staple feature in iPhone 3.0.
People familiar with Apple's plans have previously told AppleInsider that the camera in the next-genration iPhone should include video capture abilities, an assertion supported by a screen cap for MobileMe sync that alluded to uploading video.
More recently, alleged Taiwan insiders have also said that the camera itself may be upgraded to 3.2 megapxiels, suggesting that upgraded hardware video performance is just as important to Apple as software features.
The list of supposed video editing graphics. | Image credits: Benm.at.
Apple has typically downplayed the importance of the iPhone's camera and has kept the same 2-megapixel camera since its handset's introduction in June 2007; the absence has drawn criticism from those noting that significantly less expensive phones have had video recordings in place for years. More direct competitors to the iPhone, like LG's Viewty, have even made on-camera editing a central feature rather than one feature among many.
Brought to English readers through Gizmodo, the rumor doesn't yet show an actual video editor but further supports evidence of video capturing as a staple feature in iPhone 3.0.
People familiar with Apple's plans have previously told AppleInsider that the camera in the next-genration iPhone should include video capture abilities, an assertion supported by a screen cap for MobileMe sync that alluded to uploading video.
More recently, alleged Taiwan insiders have also said that the camera itself may be upgraded to 3.2 megapxiels, suggesting that upgraded hardware video performance is just as important to Apple as software features.
The list of supposed video editing graphics. | Image credits: Benm.at.
Apple has typically downplayed the importance of the iPhone's camera and has kept the same 2-megapixel camera since its handset's introduction in June 2007; the absence has drawn criticism from those noting that significantly less expensive phones have had video recordings in place for years. More direct competitors to the iPhone, like LG's Viewty, have even made on-camera editing a central feature rather than one feature among many.
Comments
Let's just shoe horn in a 5 MP camera and be done with it. I find 4 MP is the least I can use and be happy.
I'm curious about this, assuming you're serious.
What is it about 4MP, on a camera phone, that makes you happy over, say, 3.2MP? Are you making very large prints from your phone?
I ask because the difference in resolution, even without the oft discusses downside of simply cramming more pixels onto a tiny imager, would be invisible for the uses phone images are generally put to-- as an MMS attachment, or uploaded to Flickr, or a Facebook page, or simply shown around on the phone's screen, etc.
I doubt most people could tell the difference between a 3.2MP camera and a 4MP camera until you were comparing 8x10 prints, and even then the difference would be subtle.
Are people making 8x10 prints from their phones?
As has been discussed (to death) elsewhere, a good (or better) lens and superior processing can yield a far better image from a 3.2MP imager than a mediocre lens and processing can from a 4MP, or 5MP one, so it actually doesn't make any sense to speak of having some threshold of MP to get a satisfactory image, without knowing about the entire image chain.
I'm curious about this, assuming you're serious.
What is it about 4MP, on a camera phone, that makes you happy over, say, 3.2MP? Are you making very large prints from your phone?
The importance of having high megapixels for such a small camera is only important to those people that truly believe size matters. They are in denial, believing the higher pixel count will result in an improvement in quality. Next thing they will want is the ability to record HD video for 90 minutes because without it, NO SALE!
If the photo is important enough, I'll take a real SLR camera or even a more compact camera with a bigger optical lens. Phone cameras (not just iPhone) will not have the quality of dedicated cameras. There's just not enough real-estate on the imaging chip to cleanly handle all those pixels without introducing noise. Critics can continue making their case until they're blue in the face but the reality will be the same. Don't expect higher-quality.
I'm happy with the quality of the photos my iPhone takes. I have very little expectations for such a small camera. That makes life a lot easier to deal with.
iPhone OS3.0 nonetheless will be very interesting to see!
I hope they split iPhone into 2 classes - one focused on being as small as possible (while keeping the same screen) and second with included a decent camera with glass lenses etc. I believe we could expect pretty cool photo applications with interesting functionality if the camera was good enough and the processor powerful enough.
I think a better way may be leave the iPhone to have a small camera like the current one, and wait for companies to make a camera add-on "jacket", now that the next API includes support to control the dock connector.
As has been discussed (to death) elsewhere, a good (or better) lens and superior processing can yield a far better image from a 3.2MP imager than a mediocre lens and processing can from a 4MP, or 5MP one, so it actually doesn't make any sense to speak of having some threshold of MP to get a satisfactory image, without knowing about the entire image chain.
I agree, the problem is that it's so easy to market a single number, and that helps people to forget what makes a camera work and the real reasons why one is better than another.
I think a better way may be leave the iPhone to have a small camera like the current one, and wait for companies to make a camera add-on "jacket", now that the next API includes support to control the dock connector.
I think that will be a bigger market than people are expecting at this point. With the processing power and display you could potentially get a very good camera at a reasonable price because most of the costly HW, save for the lens, could remain in the iPhone. And if we assume that the Touch will not get a camera this time around this could be even be a bigger market.
I'm curious about this, assuming you're serious.
What is it about 4MP, on a camera phone, that makes you happy over, say, 3.2MP? Are you making very large prints from your phone?
&c. .
I'll second that addabox. The Megapixel Myth is a way of getting you to buy a new camera every year (coz "8MP is so much 'better' that 5MP; 5MP is so last year" etc.). However, I tested various resolutions on my Canon Powershot, and Pentax compact before that, and found that there was no visible difference between a shot taken at 2MP and one of the same image shot at 7 MP *for onscreen viewing of the whole image*. A 5MP on a phone would be more than a bit silly - indeed, I have the DSLR set to 5MP (and lowest compression) for everyday shots and it's more than enough.
I hope they split iPhone into 2 classes - one focused on being as small as possible (while keeping the same screen) and second with included a decent camera with glass lenses etc. I believe we could expect pretty cool photo applications with interesting functionality if the camera was good enough and the processor powerful enough.
Yes- if you want a camera, it requires a reshaping. As such, I'd be interested in an Apple camera-iPod, but they need to keep the iPhone as is.
I can imagine the iPhone LCD being the entire back of a camera, and the camera being much thicker with a good lense, even optical zoom. But it's not a phone. It might have 3G connectivity, GPS for locations on photos, etc
I think a better way may be leave the iPhone to have a small camera like the current one, and wait for companies to make a camera add-on "jacket", now that the next API includes support to control the dock connector.
That's really interesting.
A jacket with some extra battery life, better lense etc.
I wonder if there's value in a digital camera with no screen, little memory and few buttons - such that you can take GREAT photos through the eye-piece, which then (through bluetooth) transfer to the iPhone. More likely however that someone would build a standard $150 camera working like every other camera - but with bluetooth to allow configuration from the iPhone and to move pics off the camera.
Unless Apple is going to do pixel binning ( adding adjacent pixels together for lower rez but better s/n dynamic range after processing), going to 3.2 MP will add nothing of value to video. As pixel binning is processor costly, I would hope that they up the cpu power considerably if they do that.
As for editing:
I'd like black point, white point, brightness, gamma, and color.
Otherwise, the ability to set the endpoints to clips, and paste various clips together would be great. So would the ability to lower the IQ, or the resolution of the movie to cut transmission time down.
The last thing would be the ability to add a title sequence to the beginning, and an ending sequence.
I have to say that I can't understand why all the articles about the camera going to 3.32 MP just HAVE to say that this will benefit video. It won't.
In fact most people I speak to are surprised that HD TV is actually "2 megapixel"!
In fact most people I speak to are surprised that HD TV is actually "2 megapixel"!
Yeah but 2megapexil of a still image and 2megapixel of a video are not the same.
On video you have at least 24 frame/s which are used to reduce noise.
I would be happy with a 3.2. Getting higher as no meaning, it would need a good autofocus and so on...
However, what about the iPod Touch getting the camera this time !?
I would be happy with a 3.2. Getting higher as no meaning, it would need a good autofocus and so on...
My wife has a 12MP digital SLR camera - and she blows her pictures up for printing quite often. She's also a graphic designer. I'm really just saying people don't understand what the numbers mean when it comes to their practical/real-world meaning.
And of course I agree that the megapixels aren't the key factor in a camera phone ... the lense, focus, etc are more important.
Actually a still 2MP image is more likely to be sharper than a frame of HD. The still image was likely posed for and had a longer exposure than a video frame. The video frame is more likely to have less exposure and motion blur.
Yeah but 2megapexil of a still image and 2megapixel of a video are not the same.
On video you have at least 24 frame/s which are used to reduce noise.
Yes- if you want a camera, it requires a reshaping. As such, I'd be interested in an Apple camera-iPod, but they need to keep the iPhone as is.
I can imagine the iPhone LCD being the entire back of a camera, and the camera being much thicker with a good lense, even optical zoom. But it's not a phone. It might have 3G connectivity, GPS for locations on photos, etc
I think Apple's aim here is to engineer the hell out of somewhat minimal parts to get that same "larger camera quality" in a smaller, more energy efficient package, and to use technological innovation to overcome things like the need for a good lens. The OmniVision parts do exactly that.
Apple will probably come out with a point and shoot camera capability that's good enough to make excellent colour prints that will sync to your computer automatically and likely print over bluetooth to whatever printer is in the area. That alone will make a lot of people second guess the need for even buying a new camera the next time their digital goes belly up.
The video camera capability will probably be 720p along with the ability to upload it or edit/save it, or send it to your friends. It would already be quite easy to get the same kind of quality out of the proposed parts as the average consumer video camera. Future updates will only make the quality better. Considering the things it's generally used for, I could see a lot of people *never* buying another video camera after buying something like this.
The iPhone camera on the 3G with 2mp was miles above a regular cell-phone picture in quality and sharpness even cells that used the same part for the camera. If the video quality is even above "regular" cellphone video quality by the same amount it will be a huge hit. Indications so far, are that the actual quality will be much higher than even that.
The camera or video camera as a separate device is history IMO. The abilities of this proposed video iPhone are already snapping at the heels of the market, it's only a matter off technology and time before the camera becomes as ubiquitous as the digital calculator and a similar "drop-in" part for portable devices.