Related
Hi all,
i just bough an i-mate Jam and it's the first time that i post a new topic here. I'm doing it because i find my new phone (is it a phone? ) wonderfull except for one thing. I guess u all know what i'm talking about: its crappy camera!
I mean, i already own a digital camera and don't really need this one, but why making it 1.3 Mpix if it can't even do a decent photo...
I tried it inside but the light was too low and the picture was too dark, i tried it outside in a perfect sunny day but there was too much light and the picture had some pink areas :? , i even tried to take a photo of a document (maybe that was its pourpose) but couldn't read it cause the picture was blurry...
Now, it's obvious that HTC (or who made it) had used cheap lens and sensor and my question is: can we replace it with a better one?
I ask u this because i know ppl that have done it to other phones; it's a quite simple task if the camera is not soldered on the main board, but i don't wanna loose my warranty to try to do something that maybe can't be done...
So, since i bet that there is already someone that have disassembled his Magician :roll: , i'm here to ask:
- is the camera soldered or just plugged into the main board?
- is it hard to remove the case?
Maybe someone would like to try it or maybe i will if i get enough support :lol:
Show me your interest, cheers
XDA cameras
Yep, it's sad isn't it? Bloody great device with an eye-wateringly bad excuse for a camera (if you think 1.3 mpix is bad, try the XDA II camera!) all before they even sorted out bluetooth, wi-fi, headsets etc. typical O2 headless chicken approach, get used to it. We've been putting up with this crap for years! Happy New Year! Hope this is the year when O2 finally gets 'The Plot' !!!!!! Oops! There goes another flying pig! :wink:
The photo quality is actually good in daylight, but very bad in night mode or dim light.
I think a new firmware could improve it greatly.
They can maybe kidnap a developer that worked on Sharp phones :lol:
tinto said:
I tried it inside but the light was too low and the picture was too dark, i tried it outside in a perfect sunny day but there was too much light and the picture had some pink areas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The MDA Compact, as sold by T-Mobile in Germany, comes with an upgraded Camera application (v 2.70, build 17736) in the Extended ROM. I don't know how much difference this makes, but you may want to try. That ExtROM is available somewhere here...
Also, did you try to change the "Mode" setting (not sure if this is the correct name - on my German MDA Compact, it's "Umgebung") in the Camera settings? If you change it to "Night", interior shots will have visible noise, but be at least not underexposed. And changing this setting to "Daylight" will help a lot for outside shots. On mine, the default was Tungsten ("Neon"), which is totally inappropriate for almost all conditions.
Cheers, Daniel
jacoch said:
They can maybe kidnap a developer that worked on Sharp phones :lol:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i just took a look at some pictures taken by a Nokia 6630 and belive me those are photos!!! Incredibly high definition and wonderfull colors... Not a picture is blurry and even those taken indoor are beautyful; could be easely compared to those that come from mid-end digital cameras (except for the fact that they are 1.3 mpix only). I would definetly kidnap the guy that implemented the 6630 camera...
I belive anyway that such a result is not only obtained via software but mostly due to a high quality CMOS and lens. If changing those in my Jam allowed me to obtain half the quality of 6630 pictures i would be more than happy.
tadzio said:
Also, did you try to change the "Mode" setting (not sure if this is the correct name - on my German MDA Compact, it's "Umgebung") in the Camera settings? If you change it to "Night", interior shots will have visible noise, but be at least not underexposed. And changing this setting to "Daylight" will help a lot for outside shots. On mine, the default was Tungsten ("Neon"), which is totally inappropriate for almost all conditions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that thx, but i still consider those pictures of a too low quality for a 1.3 mpix. I'll try to flash my Jam with the extended ROM but i'm a total noob in flashin PDAs and don't have a clue from where to start (i'll learn anyway, don't worry . Just two questions: what's the difference between extended ROMs and "normal" ROMs? If i flash my Jam with the German extended ROM do i get a German OS?)
I'll try to flash my Jam with the extended ROM but i'm a total noob in flashin PDAs and don't have a clue from where to start
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not tried to install the German Camera update to an English device, so there's no warranty that it'll work. But to install that Camera update, you don't have to flash anything! Just get the Camera*.cab, copy it to your device via ActiveSync, and execute it there. It will install itself.
Unfortunately, this .cab does not contain uninstall info, so if it doesn't work, you can't simply uninstall it. You'll either have to use special tools, or perform a Hard Reset.
Just two questions: what's the difference between extended ROMs and "normal" ROMs? If i flash my Jam with the German extended ROM do i get a German OS?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All HTC PocketPCs have (logically, not necessarily physically) three Flash memories: the main ROM that contains the OS and Radio Stack, then the Extended ROM where network providers can put their customized apps, and lastly the user-accessible "Storage".
When you first switch on your device (or do a Hard Reset), the OS looks for AutoRun.exe in the ExtendedROM, and that program installs several .cab files from the ExtendedROM. If you perform a Soft Reset immediately after the short tutorial that executes after each Hard Reset and before the Today Screen appears, the ExtendedROM is not executed and remains visible. You then can decide which .cabs you want to install - just use a file explorer to browse the ExtendedROM. But I disgress...
Most programs in the ExtendedROM just add some branding and network-specific settings, so you should not install German T-Mobile ones on your device. Some others (Intellidialer, Intellipad) are also available in English, so again don't use the German ones. The Camera may be the only one not available in English, but maybe we should first try to find out what the differences really are between the built-in and the ExtendedROM Camera app. Which version is your Camera app?
Cheers, Daniel
Thx a lot for your explaination, i think i got it now
Now, my camera app version should be 1.0.0.1 (i had to get it through ActiveSync since u don't have a property menu in the FileExplorer, right?), so i belive it's the very first release (or at least the second if the first was 1.0.0.0). What's yours?
Could u post a picture taken with your camera so i'll do the same and we can compare them? (i suppose u have the German camera update)
Thx again for your help :wink:
tinto said:
Now, my camera app version should be 1.0.0.1 (i had to get it through ActiveSync since u don't have a property menu in the FileExplorer, right?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That number surprises me, and I don't think it's the correct one. Where exactly did you look? Try the following: start the Camera app, tap the toolbox icon to go to the settings page, then click on the "Extras" menu, then on "Info" (names are from my German app, may be slightly different on your device). What is the version number displayed on that page?
Could u post a picture taken with your camera so i'll do the same and we can compare them? (i suppose u have the German camera update)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Attached are two pictures (packed into one ZIP file) - one taken with my MDA Compact, the other one with my Ricoh Caplio R1. It was a rainy and dark day, so both are somewhat dull. It's true that despite the darkness, the MDA picture is still a bit overexposed. It was taken with the mode set to "daylight". And of course the difference between 1.3 and 4 MPixel and the difference in the quality of the lenses is very evident. But I think the quality is in line with what can be reasonably expected.
Oh, btw, I did not compare myself, but I heard people say that if you set the resolution to less than the maximum of 1280*960, the picture quality increases. This could be due to some post-processing of the image. I always use 640*480 when taking photos with the MDA Compact.
So, how does the quality of your pictures compare to mine?
Cheers, Daniel
tadzio said:
That number surprises me, and I don't think it's the correct one. Where exactly did you look? Try the following: start the Camera app, tap the toolbox icon to go to the settings page, then click on the "Extras" menu, then on "Info" (names are from my German app, may be slightly different on your device). What is the version number displayed on that page?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idd was the wrong one
anyway i upgraded today to the italian ROM and the camera app version is 2.70 build 17975. Let me know if it is the same
tadzio said:
So, how does the quality of your pictures compare to mine?
Cheers, Daniel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gotta say it's almost the same. Anyway i didn't know that with lower resolutions the quality of pictures increases. All the picture i took before where in 1280*960.
Now i'll show u something i discovered:
i attached 2 pictures taken today before the ROM upgrade; i know they are ugly but was the first thing i had in my view . The picture number 1 is a street where i live during a rather sunny afternoon. Notice that everything bright is shown with a pink tone (and in every other picture taken by MDA compact that i've seen it's the same). Now look picture number 2; that's the same picture with levels, contrast and colors automaticly set by Photoshop. IMO picture quality is much higher...
So my point is: after all the MDA camera is not that bad, what really sux is the sofware that reprocesses the pictures, as maverick stated above...
tinto said:
anyway i upgraded today to the italian ROM and the camera app version is 2.70 build 17975. Let me know if it is the same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You now have a newer one, see my first post in this thread.
Notice that everything bright is shown with a pink tone (and in every other picture taken by MDA compact that i've seen it's the same).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, that! Then I think I have good news for you: the Camera app has settings to correct such problems. In the Settings Page, tap on "Extra", then on the first menu entry (in German it's "Ansicht einstellen") - not the "Options" menu entry! There you can set contrast, brightness, hue, gamma, crispness etc.
Although these settings are under "Ansicht" ("View"), they do affect the pictures you take! (I have to admit I only just discovered this. Otherwise I would have let you know a lot earlier, of course...)
Hope that helped!
Daniel
tinto said:
tadzio said:
contrast and colors automaticly set by Photoshop. IMO picture quality is much higher...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do u mean by automatically set by photoshop ??? how,d u do that :$ ??? plz explain.....thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zairyaab said:
what do u mean by automatically set by photoshop ??? how,d u do that :$ ??? plz explain.....thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my version of photoshop is in italian so i dunno the right name of the menu but i'll try to explain...
Go to menu Image (3rd menu from the left), then Regulations (the second string from the top) and then click on Automatic Levels, Automatic Contrast and Automatic Color. Anyway u can do a better job manually if u know what to do. My example was just there to show that the pictures of our lovely Compact could be slightly improved with a simple piece of software.
tadzio said:
Oh, that! Then I think I have good news for you: the Camera app has settings to correct such problems. In the Settings Page, tap on "Extra", then on the first menu entry (in German it's "Ansicht einstellen") - not the "Options" menu entry! There you can set contrast, brightness, hue, gamma, crispness etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've seen those too when u told me where i could find the camera app version. I've tried to change some but i don't really see a big improvement; anyway i'll try again tomorrow with the daylight. I'll let u know the results (and let me know yours :wink: )
I guess there should be some1 developing 3rd party camera software don't you think?
ramram said:
I guess there should be some1 developing 3rd party camera software don't you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so. I'll try to take a look
For what concerns the camera settings, i've made some tries today in a perfect sunny afternoon and i found that i could improve a little the overall photo quality. Anyway the generalized pink tone is still present and can't be removed (u can turn it in a cyan tone but still not white; i belive u should be able to use decimals in the settings to remove it, cause with a hue of 5 the picture has pink while with a hue of 4 it has cyan tones).
My settings for a perfect sunny day are:
Contrast 6
Brightness 5
Gamma 5
Hue 5
Higher crispness gives u better details under the daylight, lower gives better quality in low light conditions.
Cheers
XDA II CAM SOFTWARE ALLLLL CRAPPP !!
i haf noticed one thing....n i think alll the xda II or guys usin himalaya device shud try this toooooo.....wat ive noticed is....i taken out a pic from ma xda II on default settings wid out changin gamma or contrast or sharpness.....wid pic resolution of 480 (thts the max it has FOOOOOK) ne wayz...i sent the pic to ma frnd via bluetooth on his nokia 6600 n the other frnd on some new siemens set....n guesss wat.....the freaky pic was loookin as if i toook it out from a DIGI CAM......not just on the damn cellll but wen they downloaded from the celll to their pc's too then also the damn pic had a totallllly diffff color n resolution then wat ma xda II was givin me.....so i am sure there has to be something wid the software tht generates the pic n reproduces it on the lcd....caz after takin a pic out from xda II n sendin it to frnds cell n burnin it out on the comp it was just awesome wat does tht MEAN ????? SOFTWARE PROB FOR SURE..... wat do u guys say ????
anyone tried the thing i mentioned above ??
I have noticed one thing, I think all the XDA II or people using Himalaya device should try this too, what I've noticed is, I took out a picture from my XDA II on default settings without changing GAMMA, CONTRAST or SHARPNESS.... with picture resolution of 480x640 (that’s the max XDA II has) any ways after taking out the picture I sent the picture to one of my friends via Bluetooth on his NOKIA 6600 and the other friend on some new SIEMENS Cell and guess what ??? the picture was looking totally different as if someone took it out from a DIGI CAM not just on the cell but also when they downloaded it on their computers the resolution and colors (graphics) was totally different then what my XDA II was giving out.
So I am sure there’s something to do with the software that generates the picture while sending it out on the Desktop Pc or LCD of the Handheld’s we are using.
What do you people have to say about this ?
Hope the grammar is OK for you guys to understand now
CAmera Version
Hello, I am a newbie in this area. I recently bought an I-Mate Jam and was immediately dissatisfied with the performance of its camera. I read that the German ROM cab file works better. Could you please tell me where I can find this cab file?
THanks
I have the JAM, bought it 2 weeks ago. The camera version is 2.70, build 18177. I would say the pic quality is mediocre for 1.3MP camera. Sometimes I get white spots in the pic too.
Maybe as someone above said, the processing is doing something odd. However I personally suspect that its a cheap camera and cheap lens.
Also, I wouldn't be suprised if its NOT really a 1.3MP camera. Maybe they have that "1.3MP by software enhancement" crap and that's its really a VGA camera. That would be my guess.
Anyway, lets face it, we didn't buy this device for the camera. If the Jam had no camera, I would have paid the same price for it as a PDA/Phone of this size. THAT's why I bought it, not for the toy camera.
I see the Nokia 1.3MP camera and it IS better, but you know these things are still basically toys. When I want a picture I use my Panasonic DMC-FX7, which is about the same size as the JAM and has 5MP and a kick ass picture.
When they make a phone camera that is at least 4MP and has an 3x optical zoom lens, give me call. Becuase that is the point when there is any value in the camera that would make me leave my real cameras at home. Until then I dont think I really care about these toy-class 1.3 MP cameras. Its not worth the trouble to even worry about it. That would be me stressing over the video quality of my digital camera - its a gimmick.
I was playing with my phone today and was thinking. Bad. Bad things happen when I think.
How hard would it be to create a program that uses the phone's camera as the background? In essence, making the phone "invisible" in that you can see things behind it while still staring intently at the screen.
Just wondering. It's useless, and probably will kill the battery faster than streaming youtube at full brightness while using the phone to calculate the cure for cancer. But I think it would be a great conversation piece.
it sounds like a cool idea... have the background of the today screen as the camera and over that icons... drains battery but could use it for a few min /day just for the heck of it
Eh?
I may be missing something here, but how would that work? Most of the time I use my phone it is either in my hand or flat on a desk - either way the very best you would see is a blurry mass and most of the time you would see only black.
Besides, how is this making the phone 'invisible'?
Have I lost my child-like sense of wonder...??
It'd be a show piece. Not for full-time use.
And it would be "invisible" because it would display whatever is on the other side, giving the illusion of nothing being in the middle.
iphone people had a competition to see who would have the best hidden iphone. Very fun.
like this, but with 100% less blue screen editing, and 100% more on-the-fly image placement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_3PLHRr50Q&feature=related
http://www.flickr.com/photos/w00kie/sets/180637/ Here is an example of some static photos on desktops
This guy had an interesting idea...
http://marocain.deviantart.com/art/My-transparent-PDA-Screen-71039673
why not just start your camera and hide OSD infos
Please don't do anything with this idea. People all over the world will lose their phones and never find them again!
Well, we would have several problems :
- first the camera is not really displaying what we want. It's zoomed, just because the camera is not where we are. This means there is an "offset" between what we would see if it was really invisible, and what the camera shows.
- second, we would need some kind of head tracking. Because we would need the pocket pc to display what's around it according to our "angle of view". To do so, we would also need a camera able to move. And then, we would need a program that distorts the image according to our position.
So, it sounds to me like it's not impossible, but quite hard, especially to have it working "on the fly".
I hope you understand what I mean.
Anyway, I would love to have such a feature on my phone !
nathrinder said:
It's zoomed, just because the camera is not where we are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it will never be
regaurdless to say even if the phone displayes what is in the back of it to make it look camo it would stil have the phone body it self... so i woudlnt really so mch
Did somebody watch Predator recently?
I would like a program that could use the front camera as a mirror. Or does it exist already? Would be great to see on the bus to work in the morning, that you don't have toothpaste in your face
Gonzo - not in the last 4 years or so.
As for hiding osd in the camera... would be alright, but I want be able to click things in my spb today plugin.
this is kind of on the same lines as that internet fad years ago where people would take a picture of the background behind their laptop and put it as their desktop background on the laptop.. then take a picture of the whole effect.. in essence, a see through desktop
Nokia has concept phone which is bendable foldable changes color to match the surrounding. I looked like cool idea its conceptual, supposed to be made of an organic material and use organic components. I saw a clip on their sight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-gTobCJHs
nathrinder said:
Well, we would have several problems :
- first the camera is not really displaying what we want. It's zoomed, just because the camera is not where we are. This means there is an "offset" between what we would see if it was really invisible, and what the camera shows.
- second, we would need some kind of head tracking. Because we would need the pocket pc to display what's around it according to our "angle of view". To do so, we would also need a camera able to move. And then, we would need a program that distorts the image according to our position.
So, it sounds to me like it's not impossible, but quite hard, especially to have it working "on the fly".
I hope you understand what I mean.
Anyway, I would love to have such a feature on my phone !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got the point. And more importantly, after getting everything OK, you will find no one is cheated. You just fool yourself!
rhov23 said:
I would like a program that could use the front camera as a mirror. Or does it exist already? Would be great to see on the bus to work in the morning, that you don't have toothpaste in your face
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, same thing here, just start your front camera
Same concept
Well when I read this thread, Predator was the first thing to come to mind. Anybody see these videos with the "invisible" jackets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFGo6kCmf38
Hey Guys,
i´d like to know how i can make the pictures bigger. (I mean in general not icontact, they will be zoomed in S2U...)
I mean, the small outlook picture is normally zoomed to fit the screen, is any kind of possibility to replace it with a big one?
Greets
Maeffjus
As you said the programs managed the size of the pictures, like S2U2.
Most of the programs have standard sizes for the pictures, so you cant change anything.
In general I would post such request in each thread of the applications
you would like to have a bigger picture.
It would make more sense.
Here nobody can help you, I gues.
good luck.
Maeffjus said:
Hey Guys,
i´d like to know how i can make the pictures bigger. (I mean in general not icontact, they will be zoomed in S2U...)
I mean, the small outlook picture is normally zoomed to fit the screen, is any kind of possibility to replace it with a big one?
Greets
Maeffjus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you assigned picture to your contact in Poutlook. If you use s2v to assign contact picture then you can have the big pictures.
hi where can i get some nice people pictures ie size.all the pictures i put for people look bad very bad i think i need the right size?.thanks
make sure that the pic has horizontal/vertical resolution of 96 dpi and they all look good. size doesn't matter that much
I've some which are 72 dpi and they look dull.
best way,
open the picture in the touchflow album, from there you can add it to your contact.
It will be auto resized and look sweet.
try downloading icons file in png format (fm 128*128 to 512*512 no difference), the same as linux uses... they work great!
thanks for the fast help
razer22 said:
hi where can i get some nice people pictures ie size.all the pictures i put for people look bad very bad i think i need the right size?.thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-download-s2v.html
Free app that has the abillity to set contact pictures.
The picture look clean and clear, and works great.
just to show...
for me these icons (png) are better than any pics!
great pic boglll can i download them anyware??thx
just look here: http://www.freeiconsdownload.com/.
you can download either png files OR stuff for linux users (they are png as well)
bye
if you're having problems with the contact pics looking unsharp (blurred), then try adding them to the contact directly from the tf3d (on the people tab, right softkey "menu" and "change picture"), that worked for me perfectly, now all the pics are crisp.
funny icons
boglll said:
for me these icons (png) are better than any pics!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where can i find the funny icons?
tnx
gsmgps said:
where can i find the funny icons?
tnx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try coming round my house with a camera!
Tnx a lot ... works like charm and very clear picture using S2V option to use picture for a contact
precisely HERE (page 2 is cool)
Which image size do you use for the pictures of a contact ?
I tried almost every combination but the picture of a contact/people in the Touch Flo 3d still remains of poor quality .
BerreZ said:
Which image size do you use for the pictures of a contact ?
I tried almost every combination but the picture of a contact/people in the Touch Flo 3d still remains of poor quality .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was about to start a thread about this too. The biggest pain is that there is no sample picture you can use to make your own pictures the same size. Does anyone know the answer?
256x256px 72dpi
BerreZ said:
Which image size do you use for the pictures of a contact ?
I tried almost every combination but the picture of a contact/people in the Touch Flo 3d still remains of poor quality .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After some research I found it. The resolution is 256x256. I use a PNG, but jpg works as well. I found out by looking at one of the avatars you can use when you have no picture of your own. Now the contacts picture looks perfect
david-v said:
After some research I found it. The resolution is 256x256. I use a PNG, but jpg works as well. I found out by looking at one of the avatars you can use when you have no picture of your own. Now the contacts picture looks perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do it?
Take a pic of the person, crop the wanted part and downsize it?
Yes,
that's what I will do.
I will replace all of my contact photo's in Outlook that way.
Ofiaich
david-v said:
After some research I found it. The resolution is 256x256. I use a PNG, but jpg works as well. I found out by looking at one of the avatars you can use when you have no picture of your own. Now the contacts picture looks perfect
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect??
I'm using a 256x256 JPG or PNG as well at 300 dpi...and it is still poor...
?
Ok I tried it . The result is better but still far from perfect.
Does someone has another idea ?
I´ve heard, but not tested, that you could use S2V (Slide to view) to add contacts´ picture without downsizing to low resolution.
If anyone tries it and works, tell us here.
Could someone post how contact picutes look like on the HD so we can see whats you mean when you say its bad quality...
Thanks!
Thanks
Thanks HelderJr I tried 2SV and that worked perfectly.
There is a setting when taking pictures with your phones camera to take contact pictures.. also for some strange reason when you use the pictures and videos program to add a photo in your library as a contact image the quality looks like crap. What looks best to me on the touch pro is open the Album program and add an image to a contact from inside the program. The contact picture quality looks much better.
Now this could turn out different on the Touch HD, but it works like this on my Touch Pro.
The thing that I dont like with TouchFlo 3D Photo Contact ... There is no standard "matrix" view of the photo contacts, for example 5 x n number of photos.
With TouchFlo 3D, we need to scroll to the correct photo and take action.
It is nice to see that 3D animation, but it is better to have an option for the user interface like the old HTC HOME.
Correction
2SV does the job. But !!!!!!!!!
Touch Flo 3d became extremely slow especially when reaching the tab "PEOPLE" and even crash down . Has to perform a soft reset and then 2SV doen't seem to work anymore.
So back to first question .
recorrection
UTVOL has it right.
Using the album(program) to assign a picture to a contact does almost the job.
Picture quality in tab "People" is largely improved but still not perfect.
asci said:
Perfect??
I'm using a 256x256 JPG or PNG as well at 300 dpi...and it is still poor...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... i think you must save in 72 dpi to avoid resizing by the HD ... in 300 dpi, there is a resize to web definition.... i 'm currently trying becaus ei have same problem, ...i will post the answer later ...hope it works.
Charles
Add photos from Album
Hi, try to add photos to your contacts from Album application
the difference is tremendous ... see samples:
1. foto used in both tries
2. set in outlook and synced via activesync
3. viewed with touch hd fotoviewer and saved to contact
so are you saying we should use 446 x 446 res?
tboy2000 said:
so are you saying we should use 446 x 446 res?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No!
256x256 pix. but you need to set it from the phone. Copy the picture to device, open it and set to contact. Outlook will blurr it.