Cameraphones - Output and connectivity
Skip contentOnce you have taken your photographs, and they are safely stored in the phone, the next consideration is what can you do with them? Most of the time the user may simply want to view the pictures on the phone’s own display screen, and clearly, if the camera is capable of taking good quality photographs, then the display should also have a similar image capability. A display with a resolution of at least 128 x 128 pixels will be necessary to appreciate photographs, and a screen with more pixels than this would be even better. The screen should also be capable of supporting 65,536 colours, in order to reproduce a good depth of colour from your shots.
One of the advantages of having a camera in the phone is to take pictures that can be sent via an MMS message or e-mail. The user may also wish to transfer pictures and store them online, for sharing with friends and contacts. Unfortunately, transferring the pictures by MMS, or to an e-mail address using MMS, involves working within the restrictions that are imposed on the file size by the network operators, and so MMS messages are usually limited to 100 kB in size. Some operators will offer lower limits than 100 kB, and so you should check this point if MMS messaging is one of your priorities. However, if your phone supports an e-mail client, then you can send larger sized image files as attachments to an e-mail message.
If it is your intention to display your photographs on a computer screen, or to print them out at 6 x 4 inch or larger, then you will need at least a megapixel cameraphone to achieve an acceptable result. The method of transferring the photographs out of the phone also needs to be considered. Probably the cheapest option will be to use a data cable connector (either USB or RS232) to link the phone to a PC, and you can then download the pictures onto the PC’s hard drive, so that they can be handled like any other picture file. Most manufacturers can supply the necessary software to enable this file exchange between a PC and the phone. An alternative method of downloading pictures is to link to compatible PC’s (or other devices) by using either Bluetooth™ or infrared IrDA wireless links, if the phone has these features fitted. If the phone supports the Bluetooth™ connectivity option, then it should be a simple matter to wirelessly send the images directly to the printer, if one of the new breed of Bluetooth™ enabled printers is available. Those phones that have a memory card slot will allow the user to transfer the pictures onto a memory card, and this can then be inserted into a card reader, or other device that can take these cards, and the images can be downloaded that way.
