Nokia camera guru D. Dinning reveals the N9 camera secrets

The 8 megapixel snapper at the back of the Nokia N9 might not be as much of a selling point as the 12 megapixel monster that the N8 packed, but that doesn't mean that its development took less effort. If you doubted this fact, you should definitely check out the interview with the Nokia Senior Manager for Solutions Planning Damian Dinning.

The man who played a key role in developing the imaging experience and the camera/video quality for a series of Nokia flagships including the N95, N86 8MP and, of course, the Nokia N8 camera, stepped on stage to reveal some of the secrets that the N9 snapper hides. Here are some of the key points that Mr. Dinning talked about.

Now you might have noticed that earlier, but the N9 camera is not exactly 8 megapixels. The number MeeGo flagship sensor actually has 8.7 million active pixels and an unorthodox 1.45:1 aspect ratio. This allows it to shoot in both 4:3 and 16:9 modes without much resolution loss.

So while the N8 loses a quarter of its 12 megapixels to produce a 16:9 image, the N9 only sacrifices 1.6 megapixels to go widescreen. The price that the Nokia N9 paid is that its unable to shoot at its full 8.7 megapixel resolution at all and 8 megapixels is the best it can do. Check out the illustration below to see how this actually works.