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Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?

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Offline genosmm

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Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« on: 28 / August / 2012, 10:54:13 »
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Have missed a number of photographic situations because I did not have a camera.

As a result of the widespread availability and decreased cost of cell phones with cameras, I have just begun to try them.

Every cell phone camera I have tried (~ 6 to date) has been very limited compared to even the most basic Canon P&S.

Since the used cell phones with cameras are now very inexpensive, they would seem to be an ideal subject for Reverse Engineering.

Is any anyone doing this or know of forums covering this subject?

Did a CHDK forum search using cell phones but found nothing.

Then did a quick search using reverse engineering cell phone but also found nothing so far.

Thanks

Gene
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Offline zeno

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #1 on: 28 / August / 2012, 12:33:55 »
You will find a great deal of information about micro cameras made from defective cell phones (so-called gumstick cameras) - see here http://chucklohr.com/808/
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Offline genosmm

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #2 on: 28 / August / 2012, 12:48:29 »
Zeno,

Thanks for the micro camera info.

Since posting I found "Image sensors adopt wafer-level packaging for mobile phone cameras"
http://www.electroiq.com/articles/sst/print/volume-51/issue-7/departments/chip-forensics/image-sensors-adopt-wafer-level-packaging-for-mobile-phone-cameras.html

Hope there are others interested in Cell Phone Cameras!

Gene
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Offline genosmm

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #3 on: 28 / August / 2012, 13:23:47 »
Forgot to mention that all the Cell Phone Cameras I have tested are older models (<1 to 3 MP Cameras).

Just came across "Inside the Samsung Galaxy SIII" which has a 8 MP Camera
http://www.chipworks.com/en/technical-competitive-analysis/resources/recent-teardowns/2012/06/inside-the-samsung-galaxy-siii/ so decided to read the reviews.

So far the only review found for it that discusses the camera is "The Samsung Galaxy SIII - a phone worthy of the hype By Gareth Beavis August 7th" Page 10 of 18Camera samples (must say the cell phone cameras are improving)
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s3-1078667/review/page:10#articleContent

Gene




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Offline reyalp

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #4 on: 28 / August / 2012, 16:22:35 »
Modern smartphones do a whole lot of image processing to get decent results out of the tiny sensor and optics they use.

An odd take on this is the Nokia 808 http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8083837371/review-nokia-808-pureview

You might also be interested in the (as yet unreleased) raspberry pi camera module, since the pi is essentially a cell phone motherboard  http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=4

One of the interesting things about this is that although the interface is standard, each camera needs support in the image processing system to produce acceptable images.
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Offline genosmm

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #5 on: 28 / August / 2012, 17:32:43 »
reyalp,

"You might also be interested in the (as yet unreleased) raspberry pi camera module.."

Yes am interested.  Do you have any idea when it will be released?

"Modern smartphones do a whole lot of image processing to get decent results out of the tiny sensor and optics they use.

My first test of cell phone cameras vs my CHDK P&S was very revealing.  While cell phone camera photos look good on a very small cell phone screen,  even the 2 & 3 MP do not even come close to the quality of a basic Canon P & S camera (which has a larger sensor and better optics).

"One of the interesting things about this is that although the interface is standard, each camera needs support in the image processing system to produce acceptable images."

Do you know of a forum dedicated to reverse engineering cell phone image processing systems?

Gene

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Offline reyalp

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #6 on: 28 / August / 2012, 21:02:44 »
Quote from: genosmm on 28 / August / 2012, 17:32:43
reyalp,

"You might also be interested in the (as yet unreleased) raspberry pi camera module.."

Yes am interested.  Do you have any idea when it will be released?
No. I don't have any more information than what has been published in that forum. From what I can gather there, the camera module will actually be quite "closed" ... all the support code is in the GPU firmware which is not accessible to end users.

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Do you know of a forum dedicated to reverse engineering cell phone image processing systems?
Nope. It seems like the people in the android rooting/modding community might know something, although I suspect that like the raspberry pi module, most of the real work happens in proprietary hardware.

Another odd somewhat related item is the Nikon Coolpix S800c - an android powered P&S http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/08/22/Nikon-announces-gingerbread-Android-powered-Coolpix-S800c-smart-superzoom
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Offline fudgey

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Re: Reverse Engineering Cell Phone Cameras?
« Reply #7 on: 02 / September / 2012, 10:06:39 »
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