10-11-2024, 09:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-11-2024, 10:17 AM by Andy Bennett.)
I have some experience of CCD and CMOS imaging devices for satellites and in not suggesting they are comparable, in my opinion the 2 most important aspects are the material of the lens (cheap cameras use plastic lenses that will always be inferior to glass (milky, washed out, poor focus, glare and will scratch etc) and the quality of the sensor. In quality this doesn't mean the claimed horizontal resolution (eg 4K) or total number of pixels (eg 5MP, which is lower resolution than 4K). You can get an awful lot of pixels in a $2 CMOS but every one of them will be rubbish and the frame rate is likely to be low.
One of the most significant aspects to the quality of a sensor is the physical size of each pixel. The smaller the pixels then the smaller a '4K' sensor will be and so the more you can fit on a wafer so the cheaper each one will be. Each pixel on a space quality sensor will be perhaps an order of magnitude larger and so able to capture more photons. Again that's at the extreme but the smaller the pixel the less good its relative performance will be. This pixel size is hidden beyond any spec for a regular camera so here you are back to seeing what people say about it's ability to work in lower light, glare, colour saturation etc.
They package a plastic lens with a rubbish '4K UHD sensor' in a nice looking plastic outer which is perfect for an Amazon listing.
The only way to avoid ultimate disappointment is to buy a known brand from a reputable supplier, ie not a clone, with reviews across reputable platforms.
Thinking about it, this is all sounding somewhat similar to the question I asked a few weeks ago about Chinese lathes...
One of the most significant aspects to the quality of a sensor is the physical size of each pixel. The smaller the pixels then the smaller a '4K' sensor will be and so the more you can fit on a wafer so the cheaper each one will be. Each pixel on a space quality sensor will be perhaps an order of magnitude larger and so able to capture more photons. Again that's at the extreme but the smaller the pixel the less good its relative performance will be. This pixel size is hidden beyond any spec for a regular camera so here you are back to seeing what people say about it's ability to work in lower light, glare, colour saturation etc.
They package a plastic lens with a rubbish '4K UHD sensor' in a nice looking plastic outer which is perfect for an Amazon listing.
The only way to avoid ultimate disappointment is to buy a known brand from a reputable supplier, ie not a clone, with reviews across reputable platforms.
Thinking about it, this is all sounding somewhat similar to the question I asked a few weeks ago about Chinese lathes...
Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!