I see a lot of people championing the notion that 4mp is plenty for "most people" - 16mp sensors are overkill and 4K video is completely useless. Unless you are constantly cropping (in which case, they say, you are a terrible photographer and should learn how to frame a picture properly), 4mp is all you need. Samsung is just playing the MP marketing game. And almost no one has a 4K display, so that's a total waste of time.
They are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
In fact, I do crop, straighten, and reframe my pictures. All the time. I haven't posted a picture on social media without some post processing since I installed Pixlr. I depend on having more picture information than I need do I can create the exact picture I want. I could never live with 4mp.
But most people don't do that. Most people just take a picture and post it. They don't use Pixlr or Snapseed. So why in the world do they need more than 4mp?
Because when people can't get close enough to the action (which happens all the time), people use the digital zoom feature. All the time. And if you want to zoom without horrible artifacts and loss of detail, you need to start with a lot of pixels. Most people don't do post processing, but using the digital zoom feature (which is very commonly used) is basically cropping before taking the picture. And that's why for "most people", 4mp ain't gonna cut it.
For this same reason, 4K video allows you to zoom in without the picture turning into a blurry mess. For me, being able to get higher MP captures while recording and higher MP screenshots post recording is a big plus. I don't use digital zoom when I take pictures because I crop them in Pixlr. But if I want to get closer while shooting video, I always use digital zoom.
So is 4mp good enough for "most people"? Maybe in 2009 - but in 2014? I don't think so.
They are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
In fact, I do crop, straighten, and reframe my pictures. All the time. I haven't posted a picture on social media without some post processing since I installed Pixlr. I depend on having more picture information than I need do I can create the exact picture I want. I could never live with 4mp.
But most people don't do that. Most people just take a picture and post it. They don't use Pixlr or Snapseed. So why in the world do they need more than 4mp?
Because when people can't get close enough to the action (which happens all the time), people use the digital zoom feature. All the time. And if you want to zoom without horrible artifacts and loss of detail, you need to start with a lot of pixels. Most people don't do post processing, but using the digital zoom feature (which is very commonly used) is basically cropping before taking the picture. And that's why for "most people", 4mp ain't gonna cut it.
For this same reason, 4K video allows you to zoom in without the picture turning into a blurry mess. For me, being able to get higher MP captures while recording and higher MP screenshots post recording is a big plus. I don't use digital zoom when I take pictures because I crop them in Pixlr. But if I want to get closer while shooting video, I always use digital zoom.
So is 4mp good enough for "most people"? Maybe in 2009 - but in 2014? I don't think so.