Although it may be some time before camera phones can match the richness of images captured by today’s digital cameras, the gap between the two is closing. According to Japanese publication Nikkei, NEC Electronics is now sampling its LSI capable of capturing eight megapixel images in camera phones.

The current market version of the LSI captures five megapixels. The new 8MP-capable CE131 LSI captures images with a noise-reduction method, helping to improve picture quality from the CMOS sensor. The CS131 also features image stabilization as well.

The sample price of the LSI is set at 4,000 yen each, or around $33. Volume production is to start in October, with the company expecting to product 1 million units per month

The new Photosmart R937 digital camera from Hewlett Packard boasts a generous 3.6 inch touchscreen display. The camera captures images in 8MP resolution and features automatic red-eye fix, pet-eye fix, and slimming functions, anti-shake technology, 3x optical zoom, 8x digital zoom, and a host of on-board editing options in addition to 32MB of internal memory. The HP R937 will be released this August for $299.99.

Everythingusb via Digital Cameras

May 1st is the date that Sony hopes will usher in the era of digital cinemas. That's the date their CineAlta 4K digital cinema solution goes on sale in Japan. With the SRX-R220 at its core, the 5-foot / 660-pound CineAlta 4K system projects a 4,096 x 2,160 pixel image off its 4.2kW bulb. The 300GB films are stored in an encrypted JPEG2000 format within Sony's 19-inch, LMT-100 "media block" RAID array. Sony is counting on about 1/3 of Japan's 3,000 cinemas taking on their ¥1.5 million ($12,651) per screen solution by 2010 with even higher hopes for the US market. They'll need lots of help since projection systems are just a tiny fraction of the total conversion costs required to move cinemas into the digital age.

[Via Impress]