Super Resolution 4Mp Photos on the iPhone

I've already talked about super-resolution upscaling techniques before, being widely used to make low-def content look acceptable in a high-def TV.

(Besides, NEC just recently annouced a new chip for that exact purpose. You can check it for yourself in this video.)

Well, now you can use a similar - even better - system in your iPhone by using the ClearCam app.

This app takes several photos and chooses the best, clearer, one - but wait, the "magic" is yet to come.

As it's impossible for you to keep your iPhone *completely still* while it's taking those photos, the app then uses those subtle variations to mathematically recreate a higher resolution photo from all those photos you've taken.

The result? It turns a bunch of 2Mp snapshots into a crisper 4Mpixel photo:

The only drawback is that these calculations can take a long time (up to 40 seconds), but considering you can take your photos and do the processing later it turns out to be just a minor inconvenience.

With more powerful hardware coming out everyday, I expect you'll be seeing more of these super-resolution systems popping up into consumer-grade gadgets in the future.