Apple iPhone 3G S Video Review

Color & Noise Performance Summary
• Color accuracy and saturation were much better than most cellphones and even better than a lot of ultracompact camcorders • Red and orange skewed most heavily; blue tones were very accurate • Color accuracy was probably helped by a very good automatic white balance • Noise levels were very good—as is usually the case for camcorders with low sharpness
	Product Tour	(Page 3 of 17)	Motion & Sharpness Performance

Color (7.42)

The Apple iPhone 3G S captured good color in our bright light test. We were most impressed with the high saturation level (110.9%) and deep, vivid colors. The colors were decently accurate, measuring a 4.72 color error in our testing. This is far more accurate than the colors rendered by the Samsung Omnia, slightly better than the Flip UltraHD, and roughly on par with the Sony MHS-PM1. (More on how we test color.)

Color Accuracy Performance
Color Test Chart (above), Color Error Map (right)
The iPhone 3G S produced a color error of 4.72 and a saturation level of 110.9% in our bright light color testing. (The map on the right is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular color.)

The Color Error Map above shows the iPhone 3G S had trouble producing red and brown colors accurately. Most of the other colors, especially light and dark blues were very accurate. There are no color modes on the iPhone 3G S, but below is a sample color image from our test footage. The phone offers good contrast in its video image, although some parts of the frame were underexposed (as you can see below).

iPhone 3G S Color Sample
Auto	100% Crop

The iPhone 3G S was light years ahead of the Samsung Omnia (another cell phone that records video) when it came to all things video. Below, you can see how much better the colors on the iPhone were compared to the Samsung. The iPhone even had stronger, more accurate colors than the Flip UltraHD, which records 1280 x 720 HD video. Out of the four models we used as comparisons in this review, the iPhone 3G S appeared to have the most vivid colors.

iPhone 3G S Color Comparisons
iPhone 3G S	Samsung Omnia
Flip UltraHD	Sony MHS-PM1

Below are some close-up color comparisons pulled from our color test footage. Notice how much darker the iPhone's red patch is than the rest of the devices in this set. This oversaturation of red is the main reason the iPhone 3G S didn't get a better score for color accuracy, as the phone did very well with most other colors.

	Close-Up Color Comparisons
	Ideal	iPhone 3G S	Samsung Omnia	Flip UltraHD	Sony MHS-PM1
Red
	Ideal	iPhone 3G S	Samsung Omnia	Flip UltraHD	Sony MHS-PM1
Green
	Ideal	iPhone 3G S	Samsung Omnia	Flip UltraHD	Sony MHS-PM1
Blue
	Ideal	iPhone 3G S	Samsung Omnia	Flip UltraHD	Sony MHS-PM1
Skin Tone 1
	Ideal	iPhone 3G S	Samsung Omnia	Flip UltraHD	Sony MHS-PM1
Skin Tone 2

Overall, the iPhone 3G S did a very good job in our bright light color test. Even though the camera captures a standard definition image, the colors were crisp, vivid, and strong. Its video image may be a bit dark for some people's tastes, but this darkness gives the footage better contrast and more pop.

Color Performance Scores

Noise (12.06)

The iPhone 3G S averaged very low noise levels in our bright light testing. The phone measured just 0.3825% noise, which is nearly the same amount of noise present on the Samsung Omnia's footage. Surprisingly, this is somewhat less noise than the Flip UltraHD picked up and far less than the Sony MHS-PM1 recorded. (More on how we test noise.)

Noise Comparisons
iPhone 3G S 100% Crop	Samsung Omnia 100% Crop	Flip UltraHD 100% Crop	Sony MHS-PM1 100% Crop

When looking at the comparison crops above, keep in mind that the iPhone 3G S only captures standard definition video, while the Flip UltraHD and Sony MHS-PM1 both record HD video. The Samsung Omnia also tops out with a 640 x 480 video resolution, which is standard definition quality. This added resolution gives the Flip UltraHD and Sony MHS-PM1 a huge leg up when it comes to sharpness and detail (as seen above), but the iPhone 3G S has them beat when it comes to noise.

Noise Score Comparisons