JVC GC-QX3HD vs. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX200

Comparison

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JVC GC-QX3HD

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX200

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Megapixels

3.34

18.20

Max. image resolution

2032 x 1536

4896 x 3672

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

2108 x 1585

4920 x 3699

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)

JVC GC-QX3HD		Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX200

Surface area:

37.90 mm²

28.46 mm²

Difference: 9.44 mm² (33%)

GC-QX3HD sensor is approx. 1.33x bigger than WX200 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of vastly different generations. There is a gap of 12 years between JVC GC-QX3HD (2001) and Sony WX200 (2013). Twelve years is a huge amount of time, technology wise, resulting in newer sensor being much more efficient than the older one.

Pixel pitch

3.37 µm

1.25 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: 2.12 µm (170%)

Pixel pitch of GC-QX3HD is approx. 170% higher than pixel pitch of WX200.

Pixel area

11.36 µm²

1.56 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: 9.8 µm² (628%)

A pixel on JVC GC-QX3HD sensor is approx. 628% bigger than a pixel on Sony WX200.

Pixel density

8.79 MP/cm²

63.79 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: 55 µm (626%)

Sony WX200 has approx. 626% higher pixel density than JVC GC-QX3HD.

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

Specs

JVC GC-QX3HD

Sony WX200

Crop factor

4.87

5.62

Total megapixels

18.90

Effective megapixels

18.20

Optical zoom

Yes

10x

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

80, 160, 320

Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, (6400, 12800 with boost)

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

50 cm

Macro focus range

2 cm

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

37 - 86 mm

25 - 250 mm

Aperture priority

Yes

Max. aperture

f2.8 - f3.8

f3.3 - f5.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f13.6 - f18.5

f18.5 - f33.2

Metering

Multi Spot, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/2 EV steps)

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Yes

Min. shutter speed

1/4 sec

4 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/750 sec

1/1600 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

Optical

None

White balance presets

Screen size

2.7"

Screen resolution

200,000 dots

460,800 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

1920x1080 (50p)

Storage types

SmartMedia

SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo

USB

USB 1.1

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Li-Ion

Rechargeable Battery Pack(NP-BN)

Weight

290 g

121 g

Dimensions

111 x 67 x 59 mm

92.3 x 52.4 x 21.6 mm

Year

2001

2013

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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

JVC GC-QX3HD diagonal

The diagonal of GC-QX3HD 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

Sony WX200 diagonal

The diagonal of WX200 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.

GC-QX3HD sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 mm²

WX200 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

GC-QX3HD pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2108 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 3.37 µm
	2108

WX200 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4920 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.16	× 1000	= 1.25 µm
	4920

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

GC-QX3HD pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.37 µm

Pixel area = 3.37² = 11.36 µm²

WX200 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.25 µm

Pixel area = 1.25² = 1.56 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

GC-QX3HD pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2108 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2108 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 8.79 MP/cm²

WX200 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4920 pixels
Sensor width = 0.616 cm

Pixel density = (4920 / 0.616)² / 1000000 = 63.79 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

GC-QX3HD sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 3.34

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	3.34 × 1000000	= 1585
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1585 × 1.33 = 2108
Resolution vertical: X = 1585

Sensor resolution = 2108 x 1585

WX200 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.16 mm
Sensor height = 4.62 mm
Effective megapixels = 18.20

r = 6.16/4.62 = 1.33

X = √	18.20 × 1000000	= 3699
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3699 × 1.33 = 4920
Resolution vertical: X = 3699

Sensor resolution = 4920 x 3699

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

GC-QX3HD crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

WX200 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).

GC-QX3HD equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f3.8

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f3.8) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f18.5

WX200 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.62
Aperture = f3.3 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.3 - f5.9) × 5.62 = f18.5 - f33.2

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