The State of the Mobile Imaging Industry
Introduction
obile imaging is one of the major trends driving the future of imaging. It has become a huge phenomenon for both the imaging and the mobile industries.
Camera Sales: 2001 – 2010
Sales of film cameras are dwindling to nearly nothing. If you include one-time-use cameras, the picture is not quite so bleak — but even with them in the mix, sales of film cameras are still dropping rapidly. Digital camera numbers remain strong, despite forecasts for flattening or even diminishing sales, driven by ever more mega pixels, larger displays, reduced shutter lag, ultra-zoom lenses, anti-shake technology, face detection, dozens of scene modes and, of course, DSLRs. Sales of camera phones continue to rise dramatically, and although the period of hyper-growth is over, the numbers still dwarf all other types of capture devices. Factor in second cameras, and the total number of cameras in phones is even more impressive.
Still Room for Growth
By 2010, when more than a billion camera phones will be sold, they will still account for less than 85 percent of all mobiles sold. There will be three times the number of cellular subscribers than the number of mobiles sold, but those subscribers will still account for just over half the total population and less than two-thirds of the population covered by a cellular network.
Camera phone usage (2006)
Findings from the PMA Digital Imaging Survey
¥ 37% of U.S. households now own a camera phone
¥ But the camera phone is just fifth on the list of most-used camera:
§ Digital point-and-shoot = 49.8 percent
§ Film camera = 24.8 percent
§ OTUC = 8.5 percent
§ Digital SLR = 6.8 percent
§ Camera phone = 5.4 percent
§ Camcorder = 4.7 percent
¥ Transmitted pictures wirelessly: 28 percent
¥ Pictures taken: 26
¥ Pictures saved: 18
¥ Pictures printed: 1.3 (just 5 percent)
Initial inhibitors to mainstream usage
The litany of problems with camera phones is by now familiar, especially to those who have attended past
¥ Image quality > Unsatisfactory
¥ Hardware design / ergonomics for taking pictures > Awkward
¥ Software design / camera interface > Impenetrable
¥ Transfer options > Too few, too difficult, too expensive
¥ Interoperability > Virtually none
¥ Data plans > Expensive, complicated
¥ Networks > Too slow, spotty coverage (especially outside metro centers)
¥ Mobile imaging ecosystem > Immature to non-existent
Shrinking CMOS Sensors
The challenge of fitting better cameras into mobile phones falls first to CMOS developers. With the growing importance of emerging markets and/or skinny fashion phones, the mandate for sensor vendors and module makers alike is always “make it small and make it cheap” — and not necessarily in that order. All the major vendors have responded by relentlessly shrinking the individual pixels so that higher and higher resolution sensors and modules can fit into the same tiny space allocated to the camera. The top three vendors are now at 1.75-micron pixels and racing to 1.4-micron pixels and beyond — that is so tiny, it is difficult to imagine.
In early February, Eastman Kodak Co. launched Kodak KAC-05020 Image Sensor, the world’s first 1.4 micron, 5-mega pixel device. It takes a string of nearly 60 1.4-micron pixels to span the diameter of the average human hair.
The good news
You can now upload photos from your mobile phone and share them with your friends at PPG mobile. Shrinking sensors allow high-resolution cameras in fashionable form factors. Here are some of the best of the year so far.
Nokia N95
N95 was introduced more than a year ago and was upgraded in Sep 2007. It now has 8GB of built-in memory, better battery capacity and a bigger screen. The N95 actually justifies the “multimedia computer” designation with GPS, Bluetooth, Infrared, Wi-Fi, 3G, a great music player, and a 5MP auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a mechanical shutter, integrated photo light, 20x digital (but no optical) zoom, and capture of up to 100 minutes of VGA video at 30fps with image stabilization.
We cannot vouch for the quality of the other 5-mega pixel models, but pictures with the N95 for nearly a month and it is just two features [stronger flash, optical zoom] shy of being a viable point-and-shoot replacement.
Sony Ericsson Cyber shot
In June, Sony Ericsson upgraded its Cyber-shot line, a 5MP auto-focus camera with active lens cover, reduced shutter lag (0.25 sec), 16x digital zoom, Xenon flash, a second LED Light, 30 fps QVGA video recording, PictBridge, BestPic, and a new MediaBar UI adapted from the Sony PlayStation gaming console.
LG Viewty
‘Viewty’ adds some serious function to that slick form with a 5.1-megapixel auto focus camera with Schneider Kreuznach optics that can capture QVGA (320 -by- 240) video at an impressive 120 frames-per-second and directly upload it to YouTube. The Viewty also offers image stabilization, supports ISO800 High-Sensitivity mode for night shots and Smart Light. The phone also features a ring around the camera lens allowing the user to manually focus or zoom — a camera phone first. The ring doubles, as a sort of jog-dial, allowing users to scroll through the other functions as well. The touch screen allows users to draw directly on their photos.
Samsung SGH
In July, Samsung finally introduced a high-res camera-phone that looks more like a phone than a camera — the SGH has a 5MP auto-focus camera with 4x digital zoom, LED photo light, TV Out, and PictBridge. At the time, we noted that the only real disappointments were the lack of support for 3G, the relatively weak flash, and no optical zoom.
In September, Samsung addressed every one of those earlier disappointments, which added support for 3G, a bigger screen, Xenon flash, face detection, and a 3x optical “inner” zoom.
iPhone supports 2MP
The new iPhone means a lot of excitement with initial reports suggesting faster browsing speed, faster performance, attractive pricing and the MobileMe feature to integrate your mobile with your calendar and some free online storage as well.
We do hope that future versions of iPhone bring in cameras with higher (print) quality images.
Of interest to mobile cam enthusiasts are the following:
Camera and photos
¥ 2.0 megapixels
¥ Photo geotagging
¥ iPhone and third-party application integration
Video formats supported
¥ H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps,
¥ 640 by 480 pixels,
¥ 30 frames per second,
¥ Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile
¥ AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
The imate K Jam
The K-JAM is equipped with a 1.3M pixel camera with flash and self-portrait mirror. The native resolution is 1280 x 1024, quality is on a par with other phone cameras; good for party snaps. The flash on this model is more powerful than some before but is still no substitute for a genuine photoflash. Outdoor photos where satisfyingly good, devoid of speckles.
One drawback of purchasing an unlocked phone that has not been customized by the carrier is that settings such as MMS must be entered manually; these can often be found on many of the bulletin boards and forums. Once set up photos can be quickly snapped and sent out. You can of course easily copy photos taken with the camera to your PC using ActiveSync or a card reader if storing photos on a card rather than internal memory.
Video recordings is also up to par for this kind of device, recording in H.263 format at a few frames per second. This is typical of all the pocket PC devices and, it seems redundant.
Specifications:
¥ Display: Transflective TFT color LCD. 64K colors, screen size diag: 3.5". Resolution: 240 x 320. Supports portrait and landscape modes.
¥ Battery: Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1250 mAh. World charger included.
¥ Performance: 195 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 850 processor. 64 MB built-in RAM, 128 MB flash ROM.
¥ Phone: GSM with EDGE and GPRS for data. Quad band world phone: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz.
¥ Size: 108 x 58 x 23.7 mm, 160g ( 4.25 x 2.28 x 0.94 inches. Weight: 5.64 ounces).
¥ Camera: 1.3 MP CMOS Camera with LED flash that can take still photos and video with audio.
¥ Audio: Built in speaker, mic and stereo headphone jack. Voice Recorder and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile included for your MP3 and video playback pleasure.
¥ Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b and Bluetooth 1.2.
¥ Software: Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition operating system. Microsoft Mobile Office suite including Mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint (view only), Internet Explorer, and Outlook. Also, Terminal Services, MSN Instant Messenger for Pocket PC, Windows Media Player 10, Solitaire, Bubble Breaker (game), Voice Recorder, Photo Caller ID as well as handwriting recognition. ActiveSync 4.0 and Outlook 2002 for PCs included.
¥ Expansion: 1 miniSD card slot.
Camera
The 2 mega pixel CMOS camera with fixed focus lens takes acceptable photos, though not as good as the HTC TyTN (Cingular 8525) 2 MP camera. Given how little room there is inside the phone for camera hardware, we are not surprised that image quality took a hit compared to its much bigger brother.
Images suffer from excessive foreground sharpening (so much so that detail is actually obliterated) that jars with un-sharpened background areas and creates a sense of limited focus. When resized down to VGA or 800 x 600, photos look decent but they still lack natural detail and contrast and white out add harshness to the images. Images sometimes have a purple colorcast.
The camera can take photos at a maximum of 1200 x 1600 pixels, with lower resolutions available that are suitable for Today Screen backgrounds, MMS and caller ID. There are 4 quality settings, center and average metering options, a shutter sound that can be turned off, a self-timer and more. There are two video modes: standard and MMS.
Standard video resolutions are unambitious: 128 x 96 and 176 x 144, but they do look decent, albeit small. Standard video mode supports H.263, MPEG4 and Motion JPEG file formats. MMS video supports H.263 and MPEG4 and offers the same resolutions as standard video. The camera has a self-portrait mirror but no flash.
Not so good news
What do all those lovely 5MP camera phones have in common? None is offered by carriers here in the “mobile third world.” They will constitute less than two percent of the market this year (although that still amounts to more than 10 million units) and VGA (and lower) resolution camera phones are still surprisingly strong, with more than 30 percent of the market.
By next year, though, multi-mega pixel models start to dominate the market, driving VGA and 1.3MP camera phones to just 25 percent market share by 2010. By that year, 5MP and higher resolution camera phones will account for at least 15 percent of the market — more than 150 million units — and will easily outsell all standalone DSCs all by themselves.
Transfer options – mega pixel camera phones
One of the primary remaining bottlenecks to increased mainstream usage is the difficulty of getting pictures and videos off the phone and into circulation — for sharing, storing, organizing, selling, printing, or anything else. Unless the pictures get off the phone, they have no nutritional value; there are no opportunities to monetize them. It is crucial this logjam be broken by streamlining the transfer process, making it painless —simple, efficient and cheap.
¥ Today, removable media is practically ubiquitous — 58 out of 60 camera phones with resolution of a mega pixel or more released by U.S. carriers this year support removable media, nearly always microSD (54/58 – 93 percent); microSDHC now has a capacity of up to 8GB. Eight models were shipped with a card.
¥ While Bluetooth is found in all 60 models, only 44 of them allow it to be used for file transfers. Infrared has all but been phased out in the U.S. (5 models) and Wi-Fi is still restricted to high-end Smartphone (6 models).
¥ USB is also growing in popularity, with 3/4 of all models at least supporting it, although only a dozen or so ship with a cable in the box. Mass storage mode (which allows the phone to mount on the desktop like a peripheral hard drive) is also growing, with 24 of 44 models supporting it. Despite the increasing presence of these alternatives, however, for a host of reasons the primary transfer method should be the cellular network. The good news is there are more than a dozen solutions for automatically uploading photos to multiple destinations, organizing and sharing them, and sync-in your online albums with your desktop PC and your cell phone. The bad news is virtually none of them is standard issue on camera phones.
Ecosystem – games, bar-code readers, etc
Most of these are, by now, familiar and increasingly mainstream. The bottom line is there are dozens, if not hundreds, of practical and entertaining uses for a camera that is always with you and always connected to the network. It is worth noting many of these services require a higher resolution camera to work.
¥ Citizen photojournalism > Accepted as mainstream (ex: Getty buys Scoopt)
¥ Mobile paparazzi > Even school kids cashing in
¥ Crime prevention (and crime) “Sousveillance”
¥ Vigilantism > Public humiliation
¥ Security, authentication > Facial, iris recognition
¥ Transaction trigger > Barcodes, image analysis
¥ Visual note taking > “Ink extraction,” fax services, OCR, translation
¥ Gaming, entertainment > Motion control, real-world interaction
Real world statistics
Numerous surveys from J.D. Power, the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Consumer Electronics Association, M: Metrics and others show camera phone use is on the rise. Real-world data from U.S. carriers substantiate this trend. Data use: First off, data use in general is up. Together, AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless have more than half of all cellular subscribers in the U.S. (129.4 million of 247.9 million at the end of Q3). Figures released with their financial reports for the last five quarters show the percentage of all subscribers who have used data services during the quarter is up 24 percent over the same period last year. Nearly two-thirds of Verizon’s subs use wireless data. (From 58.9 million to 81.9 million) CTIA says during the first half of this year, data revenues are up 63 percent over same period last year, so not only are there more data users, but they’re spending more as well.
MMS: One data service they are spending more on is sending pictures. The CTIA says Americans now send 15 – 25 million MMS per day, twice as many as last year. Again, carrier reports highlight this trend. AT&T and Verizon customers account for more than half of this MMS volume (11.4 m per day). The use of MMS (any transmission of a picture or video over the cellular network) by their data subscribers has nearly doubled during the same period.
Inhibitors: 2007 report card
So where do we stand at the end of 2007 as far as those inhibitors are concerned?
• Image quality Still marginal for most models
• Hardware design / ergonomics * Good, but only a few models
• Software design / interface
¥ Streamlined, but only by some vendors (Nokia, Sony Ericsson) > Transfer options
¥ Much better, except OTA > Interoperability
¥ Nearly ubiquitous, but there are still issues (decimation, convoluted steps for display, etc.) > Data plans
¥ All you can eat becoming the norm (especially for messaging plans) > Networks
¥ Improving, but uploads still slow > Mobile imaging ecosystem
¥ Growing list of uses beyond messaging, memory capture > Overall grade B-/C+. The task now is to get the word out, educate consumers that there is a real, useful camera in their phone. Source, in parts, Tony Henning’s “State of the Mobile Imaging Industry” presentation