system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are cameras on smartphones so slow at taking single frame photos yet can record HD video at many Frames per second.

Why is it that cameras as found on the latest smart phones can only take 1 photo every second or two (in full resolution anyway) while at the same time they have the capability to take HD video at many tens of frames a second?
gpt
Photos are typically much much higher resolution than video (even compared to HD video).

A typical smartphone may have an 8 MP (megapixel) photo resolution. This means photos may comprise a grid of roughly 3,264 x 2,448 pixels (a total of ~8 Million pixels).

In contrast, even full HD (1080p) video recordings comprise a grid of only 1920x1080 pixels (a total of just over 2 Million pixels).

So basically, you're compromising the resolution significantly (i.e. getting only about 1/4 of the resolution your camera is capable of) when you elect to take video over photos. The higher resolution photos take longer to capture and process, and they typically require more light (to form a higher quality image) so the exposure time may be longer than for an individual video frame, especially at night.