I was looking out on internet to buy a good and cheap smartphone for my wife recently. I obviously did some research and compared many smartphones before going out and buying one.

My wife had basic requirements of a good camera, Android OS, Touchscreen and wifi. Since 3G is the new wave in town, she wanted the phone to be 3G enabled too even though she might not use it in near future. Also, i did not want to spend a fortune on buying a smartphone as technology today changes withing 2 months and you get attracted to new versions. So, buying a budget phone makes sense so that selling it and buying a new one does not hurt you much.

All the requirments were fulfilled by most of the smartphones available in market these days. The one thing which i found surprising was the camera's megapixel count and the difference it made to the cost of the phone and hence it formed the base for this article.

I zeroed in on two phones i.e. Samung Galaxy POP and Samsung Galaxy FIT. The two phones had everything same except the camera megapixel count. There could be something minor else too which would have differed but it did not come to my notice in thorough analysis, so i assume there was no difference.

Both have the same version of Android (2.2) with same RAM (256 MB) and 2GB SD card free. Samsung Galaxy POP has 3.2 MP camera while Samsung Galaxy FIT has 5 MP camera with a minor screen size difference. You won't even feel the size difference. And this feature made a good difference in the price of the two phones. Pop costs approx. INR 7,500 ($ 166)whereas FIT costs INR 9,500 ($ 212).

So, the question was should i spend INR 2,000 ($ 45) more for more megapixels? Does adding megapixels really add to the picture quality worth INR 2,000 ($ 45)?

Does Megapixel count really defines the picture quality?

The fact is that megapixel count is just one part which plays an important role in picture quality.

Three parts of a camera work together to create images: the lens, the sensor and the "jpeg engine." The lens gathers and focuses light on the sensor. The sensor reads the light and sends digital data to the camera's onboard computer (containing the jpeg engine) that processes the raw data from the sensor to create jpeg images.

A megapixel = 1 million pixels, or picture elements. A pixel is one light-gathering cell on the sensor, so a 10-megapixel camera has 10 million individual light-gathering cells. More megapixels means higher resolution, which seems like a good thing but Unfortunately it is a bit more complicated than that.

Most phone cameras have sensors with tiny physical dimensions and small surface area. That means that if you go from 8 megapixels to 12 megapixels, each one of those light- gathering cells has to be a lot smaller to fit on the tiny chip and does not necessarily produce better pictures.

The constantly climbing megapixel count is basically driven by marketing. That is why you would easily find huge difference in quality even though they were clicked with camera of same megapixel count.

Lens, sensor and jpeg engine need to work in harmony to produce great-looking pictures. If the jpeg engine does a poor job processing the data from the sensor or If the sensor has deficiencies, then everything suffers. The trick is finding a camera with good performance in all three areas which is difficult to find in a mobile phone as the primary purpose here is not clicking pictures but making phone calls!!

This may not be true for high-end mobile phones which specifically take care of above points.

So when do megapixels count?

If you plan to print a lot of your photos then a camera with a higher megapixel count will do you well. A 5 megapixel camera will fill in more pixels per inch on paper as compared to a 3.2 megapixel camera. As a matter of fact, you can't even notice the difference between a true 3 MP and a 5 MP image unless you are printing HUGE posters. There are not too many people that print huge posters with SmartPhone cameras. But if you do, then it would be good idea to bet your money on more megapixels.

Conclusion

The crux of the story is that if you are buying a budget phone, you should not pay higher for an increased megapixel count as it is not guaranteed to increase the picture quality. You may never be able to find the sensor and other details as manufacturers never advertise them or print them on boxes.

Another, points which needs attention is that in today's online social network oriented world, our most important purpose of clicking pictures with mobile cameras is to share it on Facebook or any other social network site. And a 3 MP camera is good enough for this purpose. If you click pictures with more megapixels, it creates heavy size images which are again not allowed for upload on these sites and will consume more data bandwidth on your mobile network while transfers.

Obviously, I researched these points and saved my 2,000 bucks by buying the POP version!! Manufacturers generally use low quality lenses and JPEG processors to keep the costs low but increase the Megapixel count which does not necesarrily improve the picture quality but helps them in putting a higher retail price.

If you really want to click good pictures, then you should buy a didgital camera of good quality lenses and megapixel count. Buying a phone for solely clicking pictures does not sound like a good idea. Please note that SLR and interchangeable lens cameras have large sensors with lots of surface area, as well as the latest sensor technology and hence are able to click better pictures even though their megapixel count is less.

I hope you would keep these points in mind while making your decision too.