(Hopefully this massive browser-crushing 10,000x5,904 jpeg will shut up the endless legion of idiots who complained about "sub-iphone" picture quality.)
The endless legions of idiots are actually right. The sensor on Curiosity is of much power resolution than that of the iPhone. The way (as has been explained a million times now) that Curiosity gets a high resolution image is by splicing multiple images together. Just like a panoramic, or how professional photographers photograph artwork.
Obviously had the sensor been more modern the image would have had better dynamic range and less noise. However, as with the resolution issue, these problems are mitigated by the fact that what Curiosity is point it's lens at isn't moving, because resolution, noise and dynamic range can all be addressed by taking multiple images and joining them all together.
I hope this helps explain so we don't have to go through this again.
http://www.astrobio.net/interview/625/interview-with-bill-ny...
(Hopefully this massive browser-crushing 10,000x5,904 jpeg will shut up the endless legion of idiots who complained about "sub-iphone" picture quality.)