What is "pureview"

PureView (previously Nokia PureView) is a range of premium smartphone cameras developed by Nokia for exclusive use in Microsoft Lumia (formerly Nokia Lumia Series) range of smartphones. Following Nokia's acquisition by partner Microsoft, the name and all related imaging technology became property of Microsoft. Pureview cameras have enjoyed universal critical praise as among the best smartphone cameras on the market and have the brand's willingness to experiment and push boundaries in imaging technology have spawned prime examples such as the 41 megapixel Nokia 808 and the Nokia Lumia 1020 which still possess the highest resolution image sensor in any smartphone that have been released to date.

The cameras boast a dedicated on-chip image processors performing image scaling with oversampling, giving improved digital zoom and reduced noise. Both are combined with a Xenon flash, 1080p HD video camera and high resolution Zeiss all- aspherical 1-group lenses. Unlike the Nokia 808, the Nokia Lumia 1020—along with other Lumia PureView smartphone cameras—possess Optical image stabilization, which has now become a part of standard Lumia PureView bundling. the Nokia 808 does however, compensate with its own exclusive and camera complementing media features such as Micro HDMI TV-out and built in video editing.

As part of the acquisition of Nokia's telephone devices and services business Microsoft acquired the PureView trademark.