Acer CR-6530 vs. Canon PowerShot SX540 HS

Comparison

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Acer CR-6530

Canon PowerShot SX540 HS

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Megapixels

6.30

20.30

Max. image resolution

2816 x 2112

5184 x 3888

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

CMOS

Sensor size

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

1/2.3" (~ 6.16 x 4.62 mm)

Sensor resolution

2894 x 2176

5196 x 3907

Diagonal

8.89 mm

7.70 mm

Sensor size comparison

Sensor size is generally a good indicator of the quality of the camera. Sensors can vary greatly in size. As a general rule, the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality.

Bigger sensors are more effective because they have more surface area to capture light. An important factor when comparing digital cameras is also camera generation. Generally, newer sensors will outperform the older.

Learn more about sensor sizes »

Actual sensor size

Note: Actual size is set to screen → change »

	vs
1.33	:	1
(ratio)

Acer CR-6530		Canon PowerShot SX540 HS

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 9.44 mm² (33%)

CR-6530 sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than SX540 HS sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 11 years between Acer CR-6530 (2005) and Canon SX540 HS (2016). Eleven years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.

Pixel pitch

2.46 µm

1.19 µm

Pixel pitch tells you the distance from the center of one pixel (photosite) to the center of the next. It tells you how close the pixels are to each other.

The bigger the pixel pitch, the further apart they are and the bigger each pixel is. Bigger pixels tend to have better signal to noise ratio and greater dynamic range.

Difference: 1.27 µm (107%)

Pixel pitch of CR-6530 is approx. 107% higher than pixel pitch of SX540 HS.

Pixel area

6.05 µm²

1.42 µm²

Pixel or photosite area affects how much light per pixel can be gathered. The larger it is the more light can be collected by a single pixel.

Larger pixels have the potential to collect more photons, resulting in greater dynamic range, while smaller pixels provide higher resolutions (more detail) for a given sensor size.

Relative pixel sizes:

Pixel area difference: 4.63 µm² (326%)

A pixel on Acer CR-6530 sensor is approx. 326% bigger than a pixel on Canon SX540 HS.

Pixel density

16.57 MP/cm²

71.15 MP/cm²

Pixel density tells you how many million pixels fit or would fit in one square cm of the sensor.

Higher pixel density means smaller pixels and lower pixel density means larger pixels.

Difference: 54.58 µm (329%)

Canon SX540 HS has approx. 329% higher pixel density than Acer CR-6530.

To learn about the accuracy of these numbers, click here.

Specs

Acer CR-6530

Canon SX540 HS

Crop factor

4.87

5.62

Total megapixels

21.10

Effective megapixels

20.30

Optical zoom

Yes

50x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 50, 100, 200

Auto, 80-3200

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

80 cm

5 cm

Macro focus range

9 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

35 - 105 mm

24 - 1200 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f4.7

f3.4 - f6.5

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f13.6 - f22.9

f19.1 - f36.5

Metering

Matrix, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

8 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/1500 sec

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical

None

White balance presets

Screen size

2.5"

Screen resolution

201,096 dots

461,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (60p/30p)

Storage types

Secure Digital

SD/SDHC/SDXC

USB

USB 1.1

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Li-Ion

NB-6LH lithium-ion battery

Weight

210 g

442 g

Dimensions

94 x 63 x 35 mm

120 x 81.7 x 91.9 mm

Year

2005

2016

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Diagonal

Diagonal is calculated by the use of Pythagorean theorem:

Diagonal = √

w² + h²

where w = sensor width and h = sensor height

Acer CR-6530 diagonal

The diagonal of CR-6530 sensor is not 1/1.8 or 0.56" (14.1 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 8.89 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 7.11 mm
h = 5.33 mm

Diagonal = √

7.11² + 5.33²

= 8.89 mm

Canon SX540 HS diagonal

The diagonal of SX540 HS sensor is not 1/2.3 or 0.43" (11 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.7 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.16 mm
h = 4.62 mm

Diagonal = √

6.16² + 4.62²

= 7.70 mm

Surface area

Surface area is calculated by multiplying the width and the height of a sensor.

CR-6530 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

SX540 HS sensor area

Width = 6.16 mm
Height = 4.62 mm

Surface area = 6.16 × 4.62 = 28.46 mm²

Pixel pitch

Pixel pitch is the distance from the center of one pixel to the center of the next measured in micrometers (µm). It can be calculated with the following formula:

Pixel pitch =	sensor width in mm	× 1000
	sensor resolution width in pixels

CR-6530 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2894 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 2.46 µm
	2894

SX540 HS pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.19 µm
	5196

Pixel area

The area of one pixel can be calculated by simply squaring the pixel pitch:

Pixel area = pixel pitch²

You could also divide sensor surface area with effective megapixels:

Pixel area =	sensor surface area in mm²
	effective megapixels

CR-6530 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 2.46 µm

Pixel area = 2.46² = 6.05 µm²

SX540 HS pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.19 µm

Pixel area = 1.19² = 1.42 µm²

Pixel density

Pixel density can be calculated with the following formula:

Pixel density = (	sensor resolution width in pixels	)² / 1000000
	sensor width in cm

One could also use this formula:

Pixel density =	effective megapixels × 1000000	/ 10000
	sensor surface area in mm²

CR-6530 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2894 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2894 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 16.57 MP/cm²

SX540 HS pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 5196 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (5196 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 71.15 MP/cm²

Sensor resolution

Sensor resolution is calculated from sensor size and effective megapixels. It's slightly higher than maximum (not interpolated) image resolution which is usually stated on camera specifications. Sensor resolution is used in pixel pitch, pixel area, and pixel density formula. For sake of simplicity, we're going to calculate it in 3 stages.

1. First we need to find the ratio between horizontal and vertical length by dividing the former with the latter (aspect ratio). It's usually 1.33 (4:3) or 1.5 (3:2), but not always.

2. With the ratio (r) known we can calculate the X from the formula below, where X is a vertical number of pixels:

(X × r) × X = effective megapixels × 1000000 →

X = √	effective megapixels × 1000000
	r

3. To get sensor resolution we then multiply X with the corresponding ratio:

Resolution horizontal: X × r
Resolution vertical: X

CR-6530 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 6.30

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	6.30 × 1000000	= 2176
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 2176 × 1.33 = 2894
Resolution vertical: X = 2176

Sensor resolution = 2894 x 2176

SX540 HS sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 20.30

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	20.30 × 1000000	= 3907
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3907 × 1.33 = 5196
Resolution vertical: X = 3907

Sensor resolution = 5196 x 3907

Crop factor

Crop factor or focal length multiplier is calculated by dividing the diagonal of 35 mm film (43.27 mm) with the diagonal of the sensor.

Crop factor =	43.27 mm
	sensor diagonal in mm

CR-6530 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

SX540 HS crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.70 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.62
	7.70

35 mm equivalent aperture

Equivalent aperture (in 135 film terms) is calculated by multiplying lens aperture with crop factor (a.k.a. focal length multiplier).

CR-6530 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.7

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.7) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f22.9

SX540 HS equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.4 - f6.5

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.4 - f6.5) × 5.62 = f19.1 - f36.5

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