This story jumped from 3/4 down the front page to the middle of the 2nd page while I was looking at the pictures. Being flagged?

Not to denigrate ISRO's efforts, but is there a reason the pictures look so... VHS-y?

It's a 2048x2048 pixel camera, and is there mostly to provide context to the other sensors. While better than many historical probes, it is a bit low-res today. But NASA's MRO already has some great optics over Mars, so they probably figured hi-res visual survey wasn't the best use of their probe.

Also, it was probably cheaper and easier. After all, MOM is a "technology demonstrator".