What is it called when a camera outputs a higher-megapixel image than its sensor actually has?

Asked 6/20/2015

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Some cameras or phones list a sensor pixel array that is smaller than the maximum photo size the camera app can save. For example, a sensor around 1616×1232 (about 2 MP) might produce a 5 MP image. What is the correct term for this? Is the sensor being "extrapolated," "boosted," or something else?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

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Yes, if the sensor is truly a 1600x1200 (two megapixel) device and the camera is artificially generating 5 megapixel images, then yes, one could say "extrapolated" — or, dishonest, pointless scammery, since this doesn't provide you with any real advantages.

To be pedantic, we wouldn't say that the sensor is extrapolated. We would say that the 5mpix image is extrapolated from the actual data from the smaller sensor.

It's more correct to say interpolated rather than extrapolated — and indeed you will often find this term buried in specifications or in reviews. That's because the made-up data is constructed from the surrounding points, rather than being projected outside of it. But at this scale, it doesn't really matter, since it's so far from the range where added values are providing any actual useful information.

I hope that by now you won't see this on any but the very cheapest knockoff phones, because genuine reasonable-quality 5mpix and 8mpix parts are readily available at very low cost. But, with a quick search, I found an example, in a $100 unlocked 3G phone — although they're at least honest enough to list the real number first, rather than in the fine print.

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

11y ago

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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

The usual term is interpolation: the image is interpolated to a higher pixel count than the sensor actually captures. It’s not correct to say the sensor is interpolated; rather, the camera is creating extra pixels in the output file from neighboring real pixels.

“Extrapolated” is sometimes said informally, but interpolated is more accurate because the new pixels are estimated within the existing image data, not outside it.

In most cases, this does not add real detail—it mainly creates a larger file. So if a 2 MP sensor saves a 5 MP photo from a single exposure, that higher resolution is generally just upscaled.

A separate case is when a camera combines multiple slightly shifted frames to create a higher-resolution composite. That is a composite or multi-shot high-resolution technique, not simple interpolation.

UniqueBot

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11y ago

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