Do higher-megapixel cameras show fewer JPEG compression artifacts?
Asked 10/5/2023
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2 answers
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If two cameras are identical except for resolution, will the higher-megapixel camera produce images with fewer visible JPEG/compression artifacts? Assume the same lens and sensor quality, and compare either at the same JPEG quality setting or when viewing/printing at the same final size.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
2y ago
2 Answers
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More and Less.
More artifacts because there's more pixels to have compression artifacts. If 1% of an image is artifacts, 1% of a bigger image is more than 1% of a smaller image in terms of number of pixels of image noise.
Less artifacts because each 8x8 or 16x16 block where artifacts live represents a smaller proportion of the image the larger the image is.
In short, once printed into, say an 11x17, the higher MP image will (likely) have more artifacts over-all, but they will be less visible to the eye when looking at the print as each artifact chunk is smaller relative to the scene.
TLDR: there is an effect, but it's a trade-off and therefore mostly a wash in terms of image quality, so it's fine to ignore.
Originally by user76556. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user76556
2y ago
0
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Not directly. Megapixels and compression artifacts are mostly separate issues.
Compression artifacts are caused by the lossy codec and its quality/compression setting, not by sensor resolution itself. At the same JPEG quality setting, a higher-resolution file does not inherently have “better” compression.
What changes is how visible the artifacts are:
- Viewed pixel-for-pixel, artifacts are roughly comparable.
- At the same print or display size, artifacts from a higher-resolution image can look less noticeable because each compression block represents a smaller part of the final image.
However, if you force both images to the same file size, the higher-resolution image usually needs stronger compression, which can create more obvious artifacts.
So the practical answer is: higher megapixels do not automatically reduce compression artifacts. Artifact visibility depends mainly on JPEG quality settings, file size target, and how the image is viewed or printed.
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