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Hi, today I want to discuss about Sony Ericsson decision when selecting appropriate (a) camera module and (b) chipset for Xperia Arc…
Let’s get started with Sony Exmor R camera module…
Reference:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201010/10-137E/index.html
There are two choices of camera module. Xperia Arc are using choice number 2:
1. IMX081PQ+IU081F (16 Megapixels, 1.12μm pixel size, costs US$ 174.24)
2. IMX105PQ+IU105F2 (8 Megapixels, 1.4μm pixel size, costs US$ 114.16)
What will happen if Sony Ericsson decides to move from number 2 to number 1 choice for Xperia Arc?
Pro:
- We can get theoretically twice amount of details
- Sony Ericsson will create more hype, especially for average user, simply because the megapixel myth is not widely known yet
Con:
- Due to smaller pixel size, we can get noisier and darker image
- The thickness of Xperia Arc on the bulk side could be increased roughly 2.23mm (although it will be the same for the thinnest side), because of the thicker lens module
- The production costs of Xperia Arc will be raised roughly about US$ 60.08
- In overall daily usage, it’s overkill and doesn’t increase the user experience to wide margins.
Now let’s move on to chipset choice…
TI OMAP, Samsung, Tegra 2 or ST-Ericsson chips seems out of question because of different driver/kernel/bios/low-level commands and it would cost and timed more to develop new low-level boot loader software platform from the scratch… There are only two logical choices for Sony Ericsson at the moment. Keep in mind that Xperia Arc is using number two:
1. MSM8660 (Adreno 220 GPU, dual-core 1.2ghz)
2. MSM8655 (Adreno 205 GPU, single-core 1ghz)
3. MSM7230 (Adreno 205 GPU, single-core 800mhz)
Some insiders have thinking about MSM7230 chipset, but it doesn’t sound logical in marketing point of view, because although it’s still faster than QSD8250 due to GPU, average users would think it’s slower because of the cpu clock alone (1000mhz vs. 800mhz). So to keep the hype, Sony Ericsson needs to keep it at least 1 GHz.
What will happen if Sony Ericsson decides to move from number 2 to number 1 choice for Xperia Arc?
Pro:
- We can get theoretically twice amount of processing power with relatively same battery consumption, and it’s critically needed in some tasks or CPU-hogged emulator, such as PSXDroid (Playstation Emulator for Android).
- We can get theoretically twice amount of graphical performance (Adreno 220 vs Adreno 205) which is needed in some games and plays important role in UI transition smoothness (just look at iOS UI smoothness vs Android UI smoothness). For example (assuming it had exact same software configuration), you will get 50fps Neocore in Adreno 205 and 100fps Neocore in Adreno 220. Native hardware-accelerated OpenGL ES 2.0 is also a bonus.
- We can get 1080p Full HD native hardware-accelerated Video Playback and Recording, as opposed to 720p in current Xperia Arc.
- We can get 16 Megapixels camera in Xperia Arc. I know it sounds strange, but MSM8655 used in Xperia Arc only support up to 12 Megapixels camera due to I/O bandwidth limitation, while Sony Exmor R only have 8MP and 16MP as stated above… MSM8660 support up to 16 Megapixels camera… This is probably the main reason Xperia Arc used only 8 Megapixels…
- We can get 1280x720 screen resolution, as opposed to WVGA (854x480) in current Xperia Arc. Only MSM8660 support 1280x720 screen resolution…
- Sony Ericsson will create more hype, especially for average user, simply because dual-core 1.2 GHz sounds more powerful than single-core 1 GHz.
Con:
- The production costs of Xperia Arc will be raised roughly about (I dunno)
- In overall daily usage, it’s overkill and doesn’t increase the user experience to wide margins.
I know Sony Ericsson had thought about all Pro and Con stated above (even more, because they’re not stupid)… And I believe they even had two different prototypes with (1) dual-core MSM8660+16mp and (2) single-core MSM8655+8mp… But after careful consideration and costs calculation, they decided to stick with number (2).
But really, if they change a plan to number (1) and adding front camera, it will shut off most of SE Troll’s mouth out there. They added another mistake by not providing latest chipset technology to date. They already providing latest chipset with X10 when it’s announced, so why not do the same with Xperia Arc, the supposed high-end X10 successor?
But anyway, despite of these shortcomings, Sony Ericsson still does a great job. They fix their past mistake with X10 by sticking to latest android version and hearing another SE troll’s feedback (such as multi-touch, mediocre call volume, so-so LCD screen and camera quality). Their phone design team is something that we must appreciate about, and they still consistent with Software UI user-experience plan that they started a long time ago.
My opinion? Kudos to Sony Ericsson!
Why?
Because Xperia Arc will be my next phone.
[ This Message was edited by: Hiron on 2011-01-06 16:30 ]
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Posted: 2011-01-06 17:13:16
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I'll guess SE is going to use ST Ericsson U8500 platform for dual core phones and as far as I know it's not ready yet. So instead they use the newest single core CPU which is good enough. The snapdragon Xperia Arc uses doesnt support resolutions above 12 megapixels so I dont think that was really an option to go for the 16.4 megapixel sensor.
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Posted: 2011-01-06 17:28:58
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On 2011-01-06 13:27:09, >500 wrote:
where is this blue version??? The press pics ive seen have been black and silver so far, as are the pics in this thread. Or am i colour blind???
I had the same question in my mind... A closer look shows that only the battery cover is Dark Blue and the front is Black...
Anybody else observed the SAME?????
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:08:46
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I do wish though
on their Android devices would change the blue background to the menus
It just starts to look bland when it's just blue all the time.
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:25:29
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NO Front camera
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:37:04
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@hgautam - only that glossy area around the screen is black, the rest is dark blue
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:37:58
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Can't wait to see how it feels in the hand, 117g is next to nothing for a phone that big.
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:40:41
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On 2011-01-06 18:37:04, malinda wrote:
NO Front camera
Why is it such a big deal with no front camera?? Who uses them??
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:43:45
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It's always nice to have the choice; people in general like to have more features on their phones to play with as opposed to less.
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Posted: 2011-01-06 18:46:35
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Have to say it does look very nice and stands out in the crowd of other launches. More importantly it does look as if it's going to release in a timely fashion certainly enough to keep it relevant previously a massive stumbling point for SE. It's a shame it doesn't seem to have a front cam ironically after all these years of having them but no use/demand for them now with the introduction of Facetime and the simlplification and the introduction of Honeycomb it does look as though video-calling maybe about to take off - I kno I kno I can't believe it's taken Apple to make users figure it out either (again). But for once this looks to be really the only major niggle the others are judgement calls - now all that remains is the price point, there's lot's of competition I hope Sony don't have their Vaio pricing head on if they have input.
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Posted: 2011-01-06 19:05:02
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