Samsung S6: You might get a Sony camera in it - or you might not When you buy a Samsung S6 you might get the impressive Sony IMX240 camera sensor ... or you might get the Samsung Isocell unit. In the published specifications for S6 and S6 Edge, Samsung doesn’t give any details on the camera sensor, saying just “16MP OIS(rear), 5MP (front)” but the two sensors are pretty different and there …
“The colour ‘gold’ represents wealth, abundance, high ideals, optimism and wisdom. After years of recession and tightening our belts, we are now beginning to see some economic improvements and we dare to hope for a better future.”
No, it's because people in Asia like their bling gold and Samsung is selling well in Asia.
The Eurozone is still heading lemming-like towards the cliff.
This post has been deleted by its author
@1980s_coder
You're assuming way too much about me there mate. Shouldn't a 1980s Coder, of all people, understand wanting to know the little ins and outs of ones hardware?
To clarify - the serial number of the chip will not change how happy or otherwise I am with my phone. I asked because I'm a geek, and therefore like knowing things about the electronics I use. That alright with you?
From http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/general/note-4-variants-camera-sensor-t2901512
"If anyone is interested in checking/verifying the sensor then open the dialer app and type the following number *#34971539#, choose ISP Ver Check. "
Samsung sensor:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2966981&d=1412983672
Sony sensor:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/10/14/aju9evu7.jpg
I don't have a Note 4 to check this with.
I've done a bit of research into this myself, and what I found was that apparently the string from the "ISP Ver Check" is actually hard-coded into the kernel, so it's neither probing the hardware nor necessarily telling you the truth. The best info I can find is actually that all the Note 4s use the same camera hardware, but some have different image processing chips.
The only certain way to know would be a tear down, but to date I've only seen a tear down of one regional variant the Note 4, not the other regional variants.
"It was however unable to tell us of a way, tracking IMEIs or otherwise, to know which sensors are in which phones."
The models with the Sony sensors were obviously produced first. After the first teardown articles from iFixit and other reviews they should have been able to evade detection of this change in materials.
Yeah. It does sound rather like a bait-and-switch to me. Did the reviewers all get the Sony-equipped devices, and the general public get landed with the cheap substitute components? If so, then they can doubtless expect a US class action lawsuit heading their way before too long.
This is not even remotely close to a bait and switch because technology companies are always sourcing from multiple companies. This is not a new thing. Take a laptop you own for instance, and it's hard drive could very well be from a different manufacturer than someone else who has the "same" laptop model as you.
Anyway, as long as I have Samsung's ISOCELL tech, I wouldn't care since it's known to be technologically more advanced than Sony's.
But if I don't have it, at least in this case, it fortunately seems Sony's sensor is almost on par, so the difference will probably be not that noticeable.
"Like all of the technology used in our products, they meet our strict global quality and performance standards"
Dunno how others feel, but I don't believe all components are made equally.... Certainly not TV's and Cameras anyway.... It shouldn't be this hard to shop and know what you're getting... I've stopped buying tech at the high-end after all these kinds of revelations, this and spying- no thanks!
http://www.amazon.com/review/R32G9D1HHDBR45
Samsung do actually have very very strict quality control and testing for their cameras (I know, I've been on the receiving end of it), down to nitpicking about individual pixel differences between two cameras or ISP's
So its surprising that there is any real noticeable different between these sensors. I wonder if they are relaxing the rules a bit.
They also dual or more source components, and are on a constant search for cost reduction.
Which all in all makes them a PITA to work for.
No, it is what passes for a sensor these days - the A->D stuff and basic processing are on the sensor chip itself, it makes sense to do the conversion from low level analog signals as soon as possible and on a chip already doing analog processing at any rate since it is a poor match for digital-optimised processes. A camera module will include the lens and focuser in addition to the bare sensor.
Yes, yes they are.
I take it my downvoter took exception to my comment as they probably have a Samsung phone and completely missed my point. I don't want a phone that chavs parade around with and haven't got the faintest how to use them properly, but that seems to be who I see Samsungs phones with so often and who Samsung seem to want to market to. Of course, no one who reads The Reg is a chav.
Looking at the pictures in that test, the sony sensor does appear to have a tendency to make things quite purple in some cases that the samsung does not, but is perhaps a tiny bit more detailed in some of the shots.
The summary of the difference does appear quite accurate.
Now of course it is a cell phone. What are you doing taking pictures you care about with a cell phone anyhow? Get a proper camera.
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