Samsung PL150 vs. Canon Digital IXUS 400

Comparison

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Samsung PL150

Canon Digital IXUS 400

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Megapixels

12.20

4.00

Max. image resolution

4000 x 3000

2272 x 1704

Sensor

Sensor type

CCD

Sensor size

1/2.33" (~ 6.08 x 4.56 mm)

1/1.8" (~ 7.11 x 5.33 mm)

Sensor resolution

4029 x 3029

2306 x 1734

Diagonal

7.60 mm

8.89 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	:	1.37
(ratio)

Samsung PL150		Canon Digital IXUS 400

Surface area:

27.72 mm²

37.90 mm²

Difference: 10.18 mm² (37%)

IXUS 400 sensor is approx. 1.37x bigger than PL150 sensor.

Note: You are comparing sensors of very different generations. There is a gap of 7 years between Samsung PL150 (2010) and Canon IXUS 400 (2003). Seven years is a lot of time in terms of technology, meaning newer sensors are overall much more efficient than the older ones.

Pixel pitch

1.51 µm

3.08 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: 1.57 µm (104%)

Pixel pitch of IXUS 400 is approx. 104% higher than pixel pitch of PL150.

Pixel area

2.28 µm²

9.49 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: 7.21 µm² (316%)

A pixel on Canon IXUS 400 sensor is approx. 316% bigger than a pixel on Samsung PL150.

Pixel density

43.91 MP/cm²

10.52 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: 33.39 µm (317%)

Samsung PL150 has approx. 317% higher pixel density than Canon IXUS 400.

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

Specs

Samsung PL150

Canon IXUS 400

Crop factor

5.69

4.87

Total megapixels

12.40

4.10

Effective megapixels

12.20

4.00

Optical zoom

Digital zoom

Yes

ISO sensitivity

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400

RAW

Manual focus

Normal focus range

80 cm

46 cm

Macro focus range

5 cm

Focal length (35mm equiv.)

27 - 135 mm

36 - 108 mm

Aperture priority

Max. aperture

f3.5 - f5.9

f2.8 - f4.9

Max. aperture (35mm equiv.)

f19.9 - f33.6

f13.6 - f23.9

Metering

Centre weighted, Multi-pattern, Spot

Multi, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure compensation

±2 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)

Shutter priority

Min. shutter speed

8 sec

15 sec

Max. shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Built-in flash

External flash

Viewfinder

None

Optical (tunnel)

White balance presets

Screen size

1.5"

Screen resolution

230,000 dots

118,000 dots

Video capture

Max. video resolution

Storage types

microSD

Compact Flash (Type I)

USB

USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)

USB 1.0

HDMI

Wireless

GPS

Battery

Lithium-Ion SLB-07B rechargeable battery

Canon NB-L1H 840 mAh Lithium-Ion

Weight

177 g

230 g

Dimensions

99.1 x 58.4 x 19.8 mm

87 x 57 x 28 mm

Year

2010

2003

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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

Samsung PL150 diagonal

The diagonal of PL150 sensor is not 1/2.33 or 0.43" (10.9 mm) as you might expect, but approximately two thirds of that value - 7.6 mm. If you want to know why, see sensor sizes.

w = 6.08 mm
h = 4.56 mm

Diagonal = √

6.08² + 4.56²

= 7.60 mm

Canon IXUS 400 diagonal

The diagonal of IXUS 400 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

Surface area

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

PL150 sensor area

Width = 6.08 mm
Height = 4.56 mm

Surface area = 6.08 × 4.56 = 27.72 mm²

IXUS 400 sensor area

Width = 7.11 mm
Height = 5.33 mm

Surface area = 7.11 × 5.33 = 37.90 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

PL150 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor resolution width = 4029 pixels

Pixel pitch =	6.08	× 1000	= 1.51 µm
	4029

IXUS 400 pixel pitch

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels

Pixel pitch =	7.11	× 1000	= 3.08 µm
	2306

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

PL150 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 1.51 µm

Pixel area = 1.51² = 2.28 µm²

IXUS 400 pixel area

Pixel pitch = 3.08 µm

Pixel area = 3.08² = 9.49 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

PL150 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 4029 pixels
Sensor width = 0.608 cm

Pixel density = (4029 / 0.608)² / 1000000 = 43.91 MP/cm²

IXUS 400 pixel density

Sensor resolution width = 2306 pixels
Sensor width = 0.711 cm

Pixel density = (2306 / 0.711)² / 1000000 = 10.52 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

PL150 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 6.08 mm
Sensor height = 4.56 mm
Effective megapixels = 12.20

r = 6.08/4.56 = 1.33

X = √	12.20 × 1000000	= 3029
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 3029 × 1.33 = 4029
Resolution vertical: X = 3029

Sensor resolution = 4029 x 3029

IXUS 400 sensor resolution

Sensor width = 7.11 mm
Sensor height = 5.33 mm
Effective megapixels = 4.00

r = 7.11/5.33 = 1.33

X = √	4.00 × 1000000	= 1734
	1.33

Resolution horizontal: X × r = 1734 × 1.33 = 2306
Resolution vertical: X = 1734

Sensor resolution = 2306 x 1734

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

PL150 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 7.60 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 5.69
	7.60

IXUS 400 crop factor

Sensor diagonal in mm = 8.89 mm

Crop factor =	43.27	= 4.87
	8.89

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).

PL150 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 5.69
Aperture = f3.5 - f5.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f3.5 - f5.9) × 5.69 = f19.9 - f33.6

IXUS 400 equivalent aperture

Crop factor = 4.87
Aperture = f2.8 - f4.9

35-mm equivalent aperture = (f2.8 - f4.9) × 4.87 = f13.6 - f23.9

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