Pantech Duo Cell Phone Review - Imaging
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Mark Brezinski Published on November 15, 2007 Comment on this |
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Resolution (1.09)
We test resolution using an industry standard chart and photo analysis software. What we do is take a series of pictures of the resolution chart, which consists of alternating black and white lines of varying widths, then run the image captures through our software. The software determines the point at which the camera becomes unable to distinguish the individual lines. This result is measured in the number of line widths per pixel height the camera was able to discern, or lw/ph. The higher this number is, the better the camera's resolution.
| Cell Phone | Pantech Duo | Helio Ocean | BlackBerry Curve 8320 |
| Score | 1.09 | 2.18 | 5.25 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 512/457 | 701/476.6 | 1087/933 |
| Image of Resolution Chart (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | Palm Centro | HTC Tilt | Nokia N95 |
| Score | 1.41 | 4.80 | 8.32 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 581/596 | 1039/1057 | 505.9/698.8 |
| Image of Resolution Chart (click to view) |  |
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Color (2.34)
We test color in much the same way, only we snap pictures of a different chart. The chart we use for this test has different swatches of color on it. When we analyze the captures, it tells us how far the colors are off from what they should be.
| Cell Phone | Pantech Duo | Helio Ocean | BlackBerry Curve 8320 |
| Score | 2.34 | 6.66 | 4.92 |
| Color Checker Chart (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | Palm Centro | HTC Tilt | Nokia N95 |
| Score | 8.08 | 5.50 | 6.95 |
| Color Checker Chart (click to view) |  |
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Noise (1.07)
We test noise by taking pictures of the color chart from the above section in varying light levels. Usually phones with higher Megapixel counts have more noise than those with lower resolutions, simply because they capture more information. This isn't the case with the Duo, however, as it scores fairly low for a camera with only 1.3 Megapixels. This means that the images it captures have lots of noise in them, which will show as spots of color in darker areas of images.
| Cell Phone | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 1.07 |
| Helio Ocean | 1.14 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 1.41 |
| Palm Centro | 0.91 |
| HTC Tilt | 1.23 |
| Nokia N95 | 1.42 |
Live Preview (2.5)
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (3.00)
As evident in the title of this section, this score is based on how quickly the phone can take a picture. We begin with the phone in a closed, unlocked standby, and take a picture of the timer. The captured image will show the total time the process took.
The Duo could get a picture off in about 6.67 seconds. This is somewhat slow, especially for a handset with a dedicated camera button. The reason for this is the camera button only functions as a shortcut to the application as a secondary function. You therefore need to hold the button down for a few seconds before the application begins to launch. Also, we noticed there appears to be a lag of nearly a second between us hitting the shutter key and the final image. Don't expect timely pictures with the Duo.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 6.67 | 3.00 |
| Helio Ocean | 4.1 | 4.88 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 2.9 | 6.90 |
| Palm Centro | 3.8 | 5.26 |
| HTC Tilt | 3.7 | 5.41 |
| Nokia N95 | 6.5 | 3.08 |
Shot to Shot Time (2.43)
For shot to shot time, we start a timer, then take five shots of it as quickly as we can. If there is a burst mode available, we enable it. We go by the time captured in the fifth photo to get a time result for the task.
The Duo has burst mode, which is normally very beneficial for the score. The Duo's burst mode, however, is fairly slow. It took about 6.16 seconds to take the batch of pictures, which is only about .81 frames/second. Typically phones with burst mode score between one and two frames per second. There are also two additional knocks against the Duo in this category. First of all, burst mode can only be enabled in the lower two resolutions, meaning your pictures won't look that great. Secondly, the viewfinder isn't updated in between pictures, meaning you'll just have to remain still and hope your subject remains in frame.
| Cell Phone | FPS | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 0.81 | 2.43 |
| Helio Ocean | 1.25 | 3.75 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 0.35 | 1.05 |
| Palm Centro | 0.28 | 0.84 |
| HTC Tilt | 1.36 | 4.08 |
| Nokia N95 | 0.42 | 1.26 |
Shutter to Shot Time (1.94)
Here we simply measure how long it takes the phone to actually capture an image after you've pressed the shutter button. We do this by taking a picture of a timer the instant we start it. We then look at the resulting image to discern the total time it took.
The Duo is a slow phone for taking pictures. It took an average of 1.03 seconds after we'd pressed the shutter button. Typically smart phones are slower, simply because they're slower at performing most actions. Over a second, however, is where that excuse starts to wear a bit thin. We wouldn't trust the Duo very much with important image capturing.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 1.03 | 1.94 |
| Helio Ocean | 0.6 | 3.33 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 0.43 | 4.65 |
| Palm Centro | 0.88 | 2.27 |
| HTC Tilt | 1.64 | 1.22 |
| Nokia N95 | 1 | 2.00 |
Interface (5.5)
The interface for still capture is basic. The center button or shutter key will snap the picture. The left soft key pulls out your album and the right one opens the menu. The menu places all the pertinent options within easy reach, and lets you fool around with shooting settings, resolution, and white balance. Everything has a shortcut key, so navigation is simple. Though a bit sparse on extras, what the Duo does have is laid out intelligently and succinctly.
Photo Album Software Internal (3.0)
Manual Control (0.0)
The Duo doesn't have any manual controls.
Zoom (1.0)
The Duo doesn't include an optical zoom lens. Instead, it supports digital zoom, which only gets one point. Digital zoom is virtually useless; all it does is crop and enlarge an area of the picture. This means each time you zoom the resolution decreases. This feature is especially redundant on the Duo, as it gives you the ability to zoom and crop pictures after you've taken them.
Focus (0.0)
The Duo has a fixed focus lens, which we don't award points for.
Flash (0.0)
The Duo doesn't have a flash.
Metering (0.0)
The Duo doesn't provide any options for metering.
White Balance (2.0)
There are three preset options for white balance in addition to the default automatic setting: sunny, cloudy, and incandescent.
Image Handling (6.0)
Video
Overall Video Score (4.0)
The software for video capture is, on the whole, about the same as that for the camera. The live preview is still bad, there are only three options for resolution, and there aren't any capture format options (though it does provide a list of capture formats you can choose from, there is only one item in it). The video captures is 320 x 240 pixels, which is pretty decent for a cell phone. The overall quality of the video is pretty bad, any movement or panning will cause serious blurring. If you only want to take video of still items you should be okay, but of course why not take a photo in that situation?
Video Resolution (5.31)
We test video resolution in much the same way as still resolution. We use the same chart, only we take video of it. We then take random frames from the video and run the same gamut of tests on them.
Surprisingly, the Duo takes fairly decent video. It's almost never the case that a phone's camera excels at video over still capture. The test showed the Duo was capable of 247 lw/ph horizontally and 215 lw/ph vertically. While these numbers are significantly lower than the typical still capture scores, they're nothing out of the norm. While this resolution is decent, it doesn't really mean your cell-captured home movies are ready for the TV screen. The N95's video score is through the roof, and we only barely recommended the phone's video make the transition onto a larger medium.
| Cell Phone | lw/ph horizontal/vertical | Score |
| Pantech Duo | 247/215 | 5.31 |
| Helio Ocean | 283/160.1 | 4.53 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | N/A: can't capture video | 0.00 |
| Palm Centro | 249/274 | 6.82 |
| HTC Tilt | 183.2/177.3 | 3.25 |
| Nokia N95 | 336.5/428.1 | 14.41 |
Video Compression (2.0)
The Duo is limited as far as video compression options; you can only record MPEG4 files.
Interface (5.5)
The interface for video capture is the same as still capture. As such, it will provide the same simple, organized layout. The menu list is a bit shorter and won't let you change capture format. There is an option to change resolution (176x144 or 320x240). You can set a capacity for the videos in the settings menu. All in all, it's a great layout for what's available, but it isn't anything outstanding by itself.
Manual Control (0.0)
The Duo doesn't offer any manual control for video capture either.
Zoom (1.0)
Again, digital zoom is supported, but not to the extent that it is with still capture; you can only zoom in or out in four jumpy steps. Again, we don't award many points for digital zoom since it's a simple crop and enlarge operation and doesn't actually zoom.
Editing (0.0)
The Duo doesn't contain any video editing software.
Modes (0.5)
The Duo gets a half point here because it allows you to change resolution to allow your videos to fit in MMS (176x144). You can also limit the length of your captures, though the lowest setting is one minute and typically 30 seconds is the max MMS will allow.
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