AppleInsider Staff
Engineering analysis firm Chipworks on Friday revealed that Apple's newest iPad features the same imaging sensor as the unit found in the iPhone 4, which was released in June 2010.
Infrared microscope inspection of the chip's die markings shows that Apple's newest tablet uses a 5-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor made by Omnivision, dubbed the OV5650 (marked as OV290BF).
Omnivision's BSI imager boasts a 1.75 µm pixel pitch and and supports 1080p high-definition video recording at 60 frames per second, which was capped at 720p in the iPhone 4.
As expected, the specifications touted by Apple for the iPad are identical to those of the company's iPhone 4 smartphone. It is unknown at this point whether the optics have been changed for use in the tablet, however it is likely that the configuration is comparable to the Apple handset.
Omnivision OV5650 5-megapixel CMOS sensor. | Source: Chipworks
The new iPad's front-facing camera is also a recycled model which is a carry-over from the units used in the iPad 2 and iPod Nano. Another Omnivision product, the secondary CMOS sensor has a 0.3-megapixel resolution with a 3.0 µm pixel pitch.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
26 Comments
So basically it's still a piece of crap. My iPhone 4 RARELY ever takes a decent picture.
So basically it's still a piece of crap. My iPhone 4 RARELY ever takes a decent picture.
Nope, the iPad camera is better than the iPhone 4 camera. You are rushing to judgement without knowing all of the facts. That is called being ignorant.
The quality of pictures taken with the new iPad camera lies somewhere between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S camera. The iPad camera has some enhancements which the iPhone 4 camera lacks.
New iPad vs. the iPhone 4
This matchup is the spec equivalent of "pick on somebody your own size." Both devices have five-megapixel sensors, and the new iPad has the technological advantage of featuring a camera module and CPU that are two years newer (which means 1080p video recording). And really, that makes all the difference. The iPad has better low light handling, macro detail capturing, and video recording capabilities than the iPhone 4. And perhaps most surprisingly, it's still less noisy. Winner: iPad
Why is that a surprise to anyone. Cars use older parts as well on newer models. If it works great, why make a new one?
So basically it's still a piece of crap. My iPhone 4 RARELY ever takes a decent picture.
Well I defiantly don't agree with that as my iPhone 4 has always taken above average pictures. Now the new iPad might have the same sensor but I think there might be something not optimized. I've only managed to take pictures in and around my hospital bed but there seems to be an awful lot of noise. I'll have to wait until I get released and get to go outside to see how it fairs there. Maybe it's that damn perfect screen, you probably will only be able to use Nokia's new Proview 808 with 41MP to be able to view good photos on it.
So basically it's still a piece of crap. My iPhone 4 RARELY ever takes a decent picture.
Either your standard is extremely high for a mobile device, or there's something wrong with your iPhone 4. I've taken some amazing photographs with my iPhone 4. I loved it. And as mentioned before, aside from the loss of that crappy LED flash (the only nice thing I can say about it is that it allows you to take photographs when you wouldn't have been able to take one otherwise), the iPad (3)'s camera features some new features found in the iPhone 4S.