DVR quality and price vs. mobile phone sensors

Forsberg

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Hello,

I am owner of the Galaxy S7 Edge phone. Not only by me but generally it is acclaimed device with powerful camera sensor. It takes great movies and photos.

I would like to know why it is so hard to achieve good quality of movie from DVR device where there is mostly almost no physical limitations for the camera sensor, lens and image's processor?
My phone has possibility to shoot 4K with really good working HDR at 30 FPS (f 1.6). The camera sensor's size is quite small because it has to be - otherwise it wouldn't fit the phone. Yet, the quality of final movie is much better than at any DVR I've ever seen.
Is it the price? No, because the camera sensor for S7 Edge costs about $13.5. So.....

Why don't manufacturers buy these like sensors from Sony and do what was achieved by example Samsung? Half the pie is sensor, rest image processor ect.
Usually the DVR cost about $100, given the fact that image quality is far behind top phones, for how much do they buy those sensors? For $3?
Why is it so huge difference in the quality of final movie between top class phone cameras which are very tiny due to lack of space and DVR cameras (even top quality) where there is almost no physical limitations?
 
What do you mean by quality? Resolvable detail or looking nice? The objectives are different (no pun intended.)
 
yup, processors in mobile devices are much more powerful than a standalone dashcam. but DVRs are catching up. 1440P from some cameras are looking really great these days.
 
Let's not forget about the software side of things. I doubt that most dash cam manufacturers even have the complete source code - instead they have to rely on chip makers such as Novatek or Ambarella to make changes for them.
 
So you say that camera from phone would be unable to sustain constant usage? Before I bought DVR I used Galaxy S2 where it worked well for about 1 year. Then display got sunburned but it wasn't related to the camera itself.

IMHO technically it is more than possible, at least with premium cameras. Some of them are being sold for $250. Surely good camera with good processor wouldn't mean more expensive product.
In case of Samsung Galaxy S7 camera itself costs about $14 and Exynos processor about $35-40 per piece. Perhaps it is so low because there are millions of phones, more you order, less the price is. Anyway this was the price of components inside phone related to the photography.
It is not expensive (per 1 piece), I would gladly see some kind of such cameras in DVR department which still struggles to give proper HDR technology at 60 FPS or 4K at 30 FPS.
To be onest the quality of recent cameras (as I judge based on videos) is like my mentioned Galaxy S2 from 2011.
 
a lot more processing power in a mobile phone and while they can make great video they can't do it for hours on end without overheating, different purpose, different spec required

TBH I think you're partially correct here. I think there's probably also an element of making dash cams cheaply for larger margins rather than prioritising spec and image quality (my opinion based on what I've seen of dashcams vs action cams, especially when you compare to cheaper high spec cams such as the Yi4K+ which pack a lot in for dashcam level pricing).

The new GoPro's are capable of 4K @ 60fps 0r 1080P @ 240 fps for prolonged periods with a h.265 bitrate of 50mps (equivalent of over 100mbs on h.264), fully image stabilised (except @ 4K60) all in a very compact housing that's rubberised and waterproof - pretty much nothing worse for heat!

So in my opinion it can be done. It's most likely due to either margins or lagging behind action cam companies in technology in my opinion.
 
Hello,

I am owner of the Galaxy S7 Edge phone. Not only by me but generally it is acclaimed device with powerful camera sensor. It takes great movies and photos.

I don't have one but hear it does take great movies and photos.. while the camera is relatively stationary. Move the camera at the same speed your vehicle is moving.. and then take movies of something moving as well... and.. you likely will see some of the same problem dash cameras have. And.. because dash cams are designed to have a wider field of view the problems are magnified.
 
I don't have one but hear it does take great movies and photos.. while the camera is relatively stationary. Move the camera at the same speed your vehicle is moving.. and then take movies of something moving as well... and.. you likely will see some of the same problem dash cameras have. And.. because dash cams are designed to have a wider field of view the problems are magnified.
Yes this exactly, it basically means each frame is a independent JPEG as there's no efficiency to be gained from leaving most of the pixels alone from frame to frame.

Another factor is bitrate. Phones record at very high bitrates
 
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