Mar 06 2011

Nokia N8 – Blurry Viewing of Photos, Might Be The Screen Resolution Issue of some Nokia

Posted by Jade Bryan in N-Series, N8, Nokia, tags: N8, Nokia, screen resolution

I’m not really sure on what title of the post I should be using, but I have definitely one thing to point out, and that’s the screen resolution issue in Nokia N8.

UPDATE:

<<< Based on Sir Damian Dinning, Senior Manager at Solutions Planning of Nokia, explanation regarding this issue, this is not a software bug nor a hardware bug at all, it is rather a device preferences chosen by their team. Please refer to the comment below this article. >>>

Problem or not?
The issue is about the blurry photos preview and viewing of big resolution photos, both taken by Nokia N8 and transferred images. These applies during camera preview and gallery view of images that have high resolutions.

The shocker is that with a little zoom, you can definitely see the big difference on the detail. And this is where I think on what is the main cause of this issue, why it would be possible to see the clear images in a small zoomed in step and not on the unzoomed one?

Logical manner – i.e. 9MP (4000 x 2248 pixels) image:
*Blurry image = 4000 x 2248 over nHD resolution. (not zoomed)
*Clear image = approx. 3900 x 2200 over nHD resolution (zoomed in little, varying)

What are the disadvantages of these?
1. On camera use, you don’t know if the shot was shaky or not. This will lead for some users to discard the shots and take another one.
2. False representation of the real quality of image will likely happen every time you browse or edit a high-resolution image.

See sample photos below: (above is not zoomed in, below is zoomed in with small step)

See the differences?

Both images are 9MP and viewing the image (above) in gallery without zooming a little with give some blurry preview or screen resolution issue. While taking some small zoom in will make your image rendered in a fine and detailed manner.

Let’s highlight again in this way, the above image:

Note:
There is a big ghosting or aberrations on the steel trusses. Leaves are also contrasted with less black and white making it looks like a more artificial detail.

More samples:

Summary:

The problem is might not only the nHD (640 x 360 pixels) screen resolution, in my guess, but it’s both software and hardware (just based on the Logical manner above. And I’ve experienced this right from last year when I was using the pre-release PR 1.1 software. The problem remains until now even on official PR 1.1.

If I clearly remember, I also had this similar issue with the Nokia C7 but I’m not really sure about the other models as I didn’t tried this. And also I checkout with the other Nokia N8 users, @Camb078 also having a similar issue.

I really hope that it is just software issue and hope they can fix it soon with the PR 2.0 Software for Symbian^3.

And if you’re having the same issue, please do drop your comments below.

Damian Dinning

Hi, I think the issue you are commenting on here is how the pixels of the original image are shown on the display.

The display has 640×360 pixels which means if you are viewing a 4000×2248 image, one pixel of the display is used to display approximately 39 pixels of the image. Immediately a downscaled image.

ANY display resolution less than 4000×2248 will mean theoretically less than optimum presentation of the image.

This situation is exaggerated when the number of pixels of the image is not wholly divisible by the display resolution. For example the N8′s display is very well suited to viewing 720p video because exactly four pixels of the video are displayed using one pixel of the display. Here the scaling required between source and display is very easy and the resulting image viewed is very high quality But if this relationship is a fraction e.g. 5.25 pixels of the source to one pixel of the display the method of scaling becomes the limiting factor. Here you need to decide what matters most, sharpness or smoothly rendered? This dictates the method of scaling. If you want sharpness you’d use one method of scaling but that can result in jagged diagonals. If you use another scaling method then the diagonals are smooth but you lose some sharpness.

These issues are the same when you view images in Photoshop and/or scale them. In Photoshop you have a choice of scaling method, depending on the use and/or preference. In the N8 we make that choice for you. We prefer smooth diagonals which does lead to a slight loss of perceived sharpness when viewing at some magnification factors and in some views. Jagged edges tend to be pretty ugly.

So in Photoshop you are best off viewing images free of jagged edges for example at 25%, 50% and 100%. Magnifications in between show the less efficient scaling of source vs display which is why you will see jagged edges at say 33.3% but not 25 or 50%. However, in the N8 we try and make the zooming as smooth as possible as well as providing as much zooming flexibility as possible rather than a very limited set of choices for optimum sharpness.

We also use different resolution previews of the original depending on the application and the magnification setting. This means scaling works in a non linear fashion. We do this to improve the viewing speed.

I hope that explains what you’re experiencing.

br

D
http://www.symbianworld.org Jade Bryan V. Jardinico

This is definitely the answer to my queries.
Thank you so much for this detailed explanation, sir Damian.
Anonymous

I experienced that after the PR1.1 too and I asked damian about that on twitter about 4/5 times with no reply :-S Can we just have what he had before the PR1.1? Cause it’s somehow annoying…
Damian Dinning

eh? Did you read what I wrote? Or is one of us confusing two different issues???

br

D
Damian Dinning

eh? Did you read what I wrote? Or is one of us confusing two different issues???

br

D
http://www.symbianworld.org Jade Bryan V. Jardinico

Hi Slipkornsaad.

I think it’s not just about software issue, it’s already a standard on current devices that have the same hardware and software basis relative to resolution issue, referring to what sir Damian said above.
http://www.facebook.com/rich.d.wilson Rich Wilson

I’ve found there is noticeable pixellation when viewing images at maximum zoom. I’ve only noticed this recently, and I think it’s since the last software update.

For example, I took some pictures with the N8′s camera today, and comparing the image at maximum zoom on the phone and the same image downloaded to my computer, the phone’s view is showing obvious blockiness and lower detail than the computer’s view.

Any ideas what’s changed?
Damian Dinning

That’s a separate issue to the one being commented on here.

It sounds like you are refering to digital zoom. If so in stills or video? In video if you have the stabilisation enabled the effective zoom is a little greater than with it disabled. This can result in a slight difference at the full zoom when stabilisation is enabled vs when it is not.

Let me know which it is and I’ll then look in to this further.

D
teddward

in a related topic (about screens), have you heard of the ‘pinkish’ tint on the Nokia C7 and N8 when displaying grays/greys?
http://www.symbianworld.org Jade Bryan V. Jardinico

I think I saw it in AAS, but never notice on my screen.
rop

I have exactly the same problem. I think it was definitly better before PR 1.1.
My solution is to use Resco Photo Viewer, wich is better then the actual Nokia Viewer.
http://www.facebook.com/rich.d.wilson Rich Wilson

Sorry for the slow reply!

I initially thought it was something to do with the camera’s digital zoom too, but it’s not. I’m talking about still images rather than video. The image file stored on the phone is perfect, and looks great when downloaded to a computer. However, viewing the same file on the phone and zooming right in, it appears blocky.
divide

I’ve noticed the same problem since the latest update – at maximum zoom, which I’d assume should be rendered at 1:1, the picture should render perfectly, but instead it is clearly blocky. This definitely wasn’t the case before I updated. Kinda wish I hadn’t bothered to update now!
http://www.facebook.com/rhenznatures Rhenz Natures

wow. i recognize which place is the last two pictures. USLS BACOLOD right?