T-Mobile G1 Cell Phone Review - Imaging

The G1's camera performed worse than expected in our resolution testing with its 3.2-megapixel camera and auto-focus lens, and color testing results weren't so hot either. It's got a really simple interface that won't confuse anyone, and good photo album software. However, it can't record video, so the G1 will shut down your YouTube aspirations quickly.

Resolution (4.04)
To evaluate a camera's resolution, we take pictures of an industry-standard resolution chart and run the resulting images through image analysis software made by Imatest. Imatest analyzes the pictures to measure the point at which black and white lines lose definition and begin to blur into each other, which is expressed in line widths per picture height (lw/ph) on the horizontal and vertical. Higher numbers mean better resolution, as with most things we test.

A picture of the resolution chart taken with the G1's camera

Despite it's 3.2-megapixel sensor with an auto-focus lens, the G1 posted lower-than expected scores here. It only bested the iPhone 3G's results with its 2.0-megapixel fixed-focus camera by a little bit, and didn't come that close to the performance of another HTC phone with the same megapixel rating, the HTC Touch Diamond.

Cell Phone	T-Mobile G1	Apple iPhone 3G	HTC Touch Diamond
Score	4.04	3.33	6.54
lw/ph horizontal/vertical	954 / 962	866 / 897	1213 / 1214
Image of Resolution Chart

Cell Phone	LG Dare	Nokia E71	Sidekick LX
Score	6.96	6.46	2.55
lw/ph horizontal/vertical	1251 / 709	1206 / 1329	782 / 662
Image of Resolution Chart

Color (2.56)
To evaluate a camera's color accuracy, we use another industry-standard chart, the GretagMacbeth chart. We take pictures of that chart using the phone's camera, and then run through the Imatest software, which then provides data on how closely the camera reproduced the chart's colors. Imatest generates 2 charts to provide a visual representation of the data - the first is a view of the GretagMacbeth chart and gives a visual demonstration of what the camera captured. In this chart, the smallest rectangle shows the actual "correct" color, the largest rectangle shows what the camera captured, and the last interior rectangle shows what the camera should have captured with correction for lighting.

The G1's color chart

Imatest also generates a color error chart to display graphically the camera's accuracy in capturing color. In this chart, the squares indicate what the ideal color capture would be and the circles show how the camera captured that particular color. The line connecting each square and circle represents how accurately the camera captured the color - the longer the line, the more inaccurate the camera was. The chart also shows the level of saturation for each color captured by the camera - if the circles are closer to the center of the chart than the squares, the camera is capturing under-saturated color. If the squares are closer to the center of the chart than the circles, the camera is capturing over-saturated colors. 

The G1's color error chart

From the G1's color error chart, we can see that it doesn't capture accurately across the color spectrum, and captures under-saturated color in the reds and blues and over-saturated color in the greens. The G1's performance earns it the lowest score among our comparison phones. We already don't expect good performance from the cell phone cameras since they're usually an "accessory" feature that's rarely meant to take the place of a dedicated digital camera, but we had higher hopes for the G1's 3.2-megapixel camera.

Cell Phone	T-Mobile G1	Apple iPhone 3G	HTC Touch Diamond
Score	2.56	3.90	4.08
Color Checker Chart

Cell Phone	LG Dare	Nokia E71	Sidekick LX
Score	3.77	4.55	4.00
Color Checker Chart

Noise (1.06)
The GretagMacbeth color chart is the star of the show again in determining the level of noise in a phone's camera. We take pictures of it using the phone's camera, at various lighting levels ranging from the equivalent of bright daylight down to candle light. Noise is more prevalent in low-light situations since any capturing errors in the image sensor can produce signals greater or less than what is actually present in the image being captured, resulting in graininess and inaccurate color. The resulting images from the various lighting levels are run through the Imatest software, which evaluates noise consistency through the different lighting levels.

The G1 performs at about the middle of the pack of our comparison phones here, showing the expected progression of noise from highest lighting levels to the lowest lighting level with which we test. Again, cell phones are generally not meant to take the place of dedicated digital cameras, and poor noise performance is not out of the ordinary from them.

Live Preview (8.0)
The G1's live preview takes up the entire screen, and tracks well with movement, showing a little blurriness but stabilizing quickly once the phone is still again. We like live previews that take up the entire screen, especially on large, bright screens like the G1's. Typically, a live preview will show the zoom level, if available, the number of pictures that can be taken with the remaining memory, and other basic data, but the G1 is remarkably like the iPhone 3G in this area, showing only an indicator for the auto-focus feature in the top right.

The G1 camera's live preview (note auto-focus indicator in top right)

After taking a picture and reviewing it in the photo album application, you'll notice that it's not quite as shown in the live preview, showing more area around the entire framed image than expected. While this is certainly better than getting less of the framed image than you expected, it's still not ideal.

Unlocked Standby to First Shot (4.32)
To test this area, we time how long it takes to go from the phone on and in standby mode to the moment when an image is captured by the camera application. This is intended to replicate a user seeing something interesting to take a picture of, taking out their cell phone, and then snapping a picture. This took 4.36 seconds on average on the G1, which is a wee bit slower than the iPhone 3G at 3.35 seconds, but is still quick enough for users to take a shot quickly on the fly. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.

Shot to Shot Time (0.78)
To test shot to shot time, we time how long it takes to  capture 5 images sequentially. We disable any post-capture review, if possible, and enable burst mode if it's available. On the G1, there is no way to turn off the the post-capture review, and it does not have a burst mode. It took us 19.52 seconds to take 5 pictures one right after the other, which calculates out to 0.26 frames per second, earning the G1 a low score in this area relative to our comparison phones, where only the Sidekick LX posted a lower score. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.

Shutter to Shot Time (1.19)
To test how quickly the shutter activates to capture an image, we start a stopwatch at the same time that we press the capture button, and the resulting image shows us how much time this takes. Unsurprisingly, he G1's auto-focus slows it down a bit here, and the G1 earned an average time of 1.68 seconds in our tests to capture an image. This time is pretty much on par with another phone with an auto-focus camera among our comparison phones, the Nokia E71. In actual use, just know that you might not capture the exact moment you want to when you take a picture with the G1, but this shouldn't be a problem for most users. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.

Interface (6.0)
The G1's camera interface is exceptionally simple - the live preview takes up the entire screen with absolutely no overlays to present any other information at all. There are only 2 settings options to choose from. Yes, that's it - just 2. You can choose to store location data in pictures, also known as geotagging, and you can choose whether or not to see a prompt menu after a picture is captured to ask if the picture should be saved, deleted, etc. The G1's camera interface is simplistic, and therefore pretty easy to use, but we would welcome additional settings and options.

The camera's only 2 settings

Photo Album Software Internal (6.0)
While in camera mode, you can access the internal photo album software by pressing the menu button and tapping on the  Pictures button that pops upon the bottom left, or you can also tap on the Pictures application in the app list accessed via the home screen. By default, the pictures you've taken show up in a grid of thumbnails. Tapping on one brings up a full-screen view of the selected picture. Tapping on the screen again brings up zoom in/out controls and arrows to navigate to the next and previous pictures. You can also use navigate from photo to photo by using the trackball.

Top level view of all photo albums

Although it does have an accelerometer, the orientation of the pictures will not change automatically when you change the phone's position, which is a bit disappointing. What's the fun of an accelerometer if it doesn't do cool stuff in a built-in application like this? The only way to view pictures in landscape mode is to go into the menu and choose the Flip Orientation option, and you'll have to select this option again to go back to portrait orientation. Definitely a bit clunky, and this earns the G1 fewer points here than it would have otherwise.

Pressing the Menu button while viewing an individual photo, or pressing and holding on the thumbnail on the touchscreen, brings up options to view a slideshow of the photo album, share the selected picture via email or MMS, rotate the picture, delete or crop it, select is as your wallpaper, and more.

A picture's contextual menu

The settings in the Pictures application allow you to change the size of the thumbnails shown in the main view between Large and Small (Large is the default), select the order in which pictures are shown, and whether or not deletions should be accompanied by a confirmation dialogue. The slideshow settings are here as well, and you can change the slideshow interval, transition effect, and whether to repeat slideshows or shuffle the pictures shown randomly.

Photo album menu

The G1's photo album software does a good job of showing off the saved pictures overall and has nice options to customize slideshows, though it fails to maximize the G1's own hardware in changing the orientation automatically using the accelerometer.

Manual Control (0.0)
The G1's camera has no manual controls.

Zoom (0.0)
The G1's camera does not have digital or optical zoom.

Focus (5.0)
The G1's camera has auto-focus, though there are no settings to control it or even turn it off. Regardless, some focusing ability is better than none, and we are happy that the G1 offers this.

Flash (0.0)
The G1 does not have a flash.

Metering (0.0)
The G1 does not have any metering modes or settings.

White Balance (0.0)
The G1 does not have any white balance settings.

Image Handling (3.0)
There are only 2 image handling options available in the Pictures application - crop and rotate. Most cell phones do not offer much in the way of photo editing on the phone itself, though many at least offer the option to rename a photo, but the G1 does not. The handling options it does offer earn it 3 points in this area, compared to the complete lack of image handling options on the iPhone 3G.

Video Quality (0.0)
The G1 cannot capture video with the camera application included out of the box.

Video Resolution (0.0)
The G1 cannot capture video.

Video Compression (0.0)
The G1 cannot capture video, and earns no points for video formats.

Interface (0.0)
The G1 cannot capture video, and thus has no video interface to score.

Manual Control (0.0)
Not applicable.

Zoom (0.0)
Not applicable.

Editing (0.0)
Not applicable.

Modes (0.0)
Not applicable.

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