New cameras with high megapixel counts leave something to be desired don't you think?

Question

I don't mind with DSLRs but seriously, 14 mp on a compact camera is ridiculous, considering they haven't fixed the noise levels at 8 mp yet on many cameras. Why don't they spend their research on making quality 8mp sensor chips. I'm sick of seeing great looking cameras with new advanced features spoiled by poor quality and noisy images.

Answer 1

My thought is that a lot of the R&D is being done on these nearly fully automatic cameras and limits to the pixel density on any given sensor will be reached on these less than $200 a copy cameras ... later to be utilized when the "big boys" design their next $5,000 pro level camera.

We have seen that the larger the pixel, the less noise at high ISO's (Nikon's D3 with huge pixels vs. the typical P&S with ones about 14 times smaller)

Answer 2

its not so much the quality of the sensor. its the size. more real estate means more space for each pixel as well as room for more pixels. a balance between the two is a big part of what makes a digital camera great, good, average or poor.