A: When you compare sensors, there can be different architectures - it can be CCD or it can be CMOS. But within one architecture, there are lots of different grades and technologies. There's CMOS with built in analog-digital converter and there's CMOS with backside illumination. With the same resolution and size, two sensors can be very different in light sensitivity.

A: Exactly.

A: It depends on your needs, but face detection is pretty useful. When you’re in automatic mode, face detection will meter the light on the face itself, instead of being overwhelmed by the background light, so the face will still be very bright. And then there's panoramic shot: Very useful because most camera phones don't have a wide angle lens wide-enough to capture beautiful sceneries. Panoramic shot allows you to sweep and capture a very wide panoramic shot.

A: HDR for short. It is used when a situation is too contrasting. So far even professional digital cameras will not capture the dynamic range that the human eye can see unless aided by HDR. Let's say you are taking a photograph of a sunset. There are chances that the sky itself will be so bright that if you expose the film to see your sky properly, your foreground will be too dark. But if you adjust your exposure to make the foreground better, then your sky will probably be overexposed. There's too much contrast in the scene for your camera to take a photo in a single shot. HDR is a technique that some photographers used in the past. They used a tripod and took many shots of the same picture - one at regular exposure, a few overexposed shots and a few underexposed ones. And then, in post-processing, they merged all those pictures together to make the scene look the way it would when seen by the human eye. Since most camera phone users don't know multi-capture and post processing, some manufacturers have built HDR technology directly into the camera phone itself. That mode will capture three pictures - sometimes more, sometimes less - and the phone will merge those pictures together without any post processing. That picture will be referred to as having a "high dynamic range."

A: I haven't tested camera phones with that feature, but I have tested that feature in digital cameras and it works really well.

A: There's a saying that goes: "the best camera you have is the one you have on you." Even if you have the greatest gear and it's at home, the camera phone you are currently carrying is the better camera since that's the one you can take pictures with. That said, to make decent pictures, I will say that now, in 2011 you will probably need the top and best camera phones to take decent pictures because most camera phones still suck in that department.

A: That is probably not the case. Camera phones use sensors way smaller than digital cameras. A few years ago, digital cameras used 8-megapixel sensors that were way bigger than the ones in current camera phones. And comparing zoom - most camera phones still don't tackle zoom optimally.

A: Not necessarily. Even if the phone doesn't have HDMI output, you can still film in HD with it, and then just transfer it to your computer (using Bluetooth or a memory card) and watch it there or burn a DVD and watch it on your TV. Even if you cannot plug it directly to your TV set, you can still enjoy your HD footage.

A: To view footage directly on a TV without having to transfer anything.

A: Sure. In cases where phones dont have HDMI, some devices will allow you to share your footage and pictures through your network with DLNA. So, with WiFi and a DLNA-equipped camera smartphone, you can share your videos and pictures on your DLNA-ready TV set.