What does HDR give in a camera? What is hdr in a phone camera. What is hdr photography

What to do if the race for megapixels in smartphones has reached a dead end; a thin body does not allow you to increase the matrix, but you want to get best quality photo? It is possible to improve the optics using high quality glass lenses, but this is expensive and difficult. It is possible to optimize the camera’s hardware and software to perfection, but this requires the developers to have virtuoso engineers and programmers on staff. Or you can take advantage of the power of modern hardware (fortunately, there is enough of it now) and simply add new frame processing algorithms. One such option found almost everywhere in smartphones is HDR.

Our article will help you understand what HDR mode is in a smartphone. We will also try to find out in which situations this option will be useful, and in which it will only ruin the frame.

What is HDR mode

HDR mode (from the English. High Dynamic Range - high dynamic range) is a special method of taking photos in which the smartphone camera sequentially takes several frames with different shutter speeds and exposures, for their subsequent merging into one image. The module's autofocus alternately concentrates on areas with different brightness, contrast, and distance from the lens.

Immediately after capturing, the frames are subject to software processing. They are superimposed on each other, and the system analyzes their quality, choosing the clearest fragments as a basis. Similar parts of other frames are used only to increase clarity, saturation, and noise reduction.

The specific HDR algorithm depends on the features and level of its implementation. The simplest (and least effective) example of its organization is when frames are simply superimposed on each other and “blurred” a little. In the most advanced versions, fragments of each image are sequentially analyzed to identify the most successful ones.

What does HDR mode do in your camera?

The main purpose of HDR in a smartphone camera is to increase image detail and clarity. For example, if, during normal shooting, objects of different colors fall into the frame, are to varying degrees distant from the photographer and have different levels of light (dark houses and blue skies are a very common situation) - only some of them will be in focus. Other objects will appear fuzzy, blurry and have no contrast at all.

HDR mode allows you to focus on each of these areas one by one to get the best possible quality. Merging frames, one of which has the foreground in focus, the other the background, and the third the small details of the surrounding environment, allows you to combine all the successful details in one photo.

Thus, when shooting stationary objects on a tripod (or simply holding your smartphone tightly), HDR allows you to make your shots clearer and more detailed. But this mode also has disadvantages.

Cons of HDR

• Moving objects cannot be photographed. Even though the camera takes a series of pictures at millisecond intervals, the subject may move during this time. As a result, instead of a blurry photo of a car, you will get a fuzzy stripe, and a running person will become a blurry shadow.
• It won't work to get a bright shot. When shooting a series of frames with different shutter speeds and focus, the camera software in HDR mode “averages” the brightness values. If in single mode you can get a photo in which the main object will be saturated (even for the sake of the background), then in HDR the background will be better, but the center will be worse.
• Slow motion. Even the fastest camera that takes a shot in a split second will slow down when shooting in HDR. A second delay can play a significant role, and sometimes it is better to quickly take a series of 5-10 frames (this mode is also available almost everywhere) than to wait for one photo to be processed.

These are mainly DVRs, radar detectors or COMBO devices. But today we are talking specifically about devices that shoot video files, the thing is that many have an HDR function, supposedly it improves the shooting, the photo, or the final file. But no one knows what she really does and what the process is. So let's figure it out...

To begin with, the definition

HDR (or HDRI - High Dynamic Range Imaging , if translated literally, it turns out - High (extended) dynamic range image) is an improved technology for working or processing an image or video, mainly affecting brightness and contrast.

To put it in ordinary human language, these technologies improve the “picture” both when shooting videos or photos, and when playing back source files. If we “roughly” describe the improvements of this technology, then the dark becomes even darker, and the light becomes even lighter, the accuracy of image transmission also increases, and in some cases, contrast and brightness.

According to the developers of this function, they have increased the perception of colors from images and videos to 75-80%, although with conventional technologies the percentage of perception is much lower.

SDR andHDR

AT the dawn of the creation of television and video equipment, there was one of the standards for the dynamic range of brightness and color, it was determined by one of the television standards in those days. Well, tube TVs could not convey greater “color radiation”, just as the standard video cameras and VCRs of that time could not record it - to put it very roughly - “the technology was lame”, so the entire wide range of brightness and color was compressed to very standard colors transmitted our old televisions and television towers.

In simple terms, we can say that out of a wide palette of colors and brightness, we perceived only about 20 - 30% (and possibly even lower)! That's why the first films weren't as realistic as they are now.

This function is simply called - SDR — Standard Dynamic Range - that is, the standard mode for displaying brightness and color. This is a kind of carburetor in the age of injection technology.

But now a new, and essentially revolutionary mode has appeared - HDR, as I wrote above, this function greatly increases the brightness and color transmission of our TVs, and also improves video recording by our gadgets (DVRs, phones) or cameras.

As I wrote above HDR - can give us a much more realistic picture, where the perception of brightness and color increases to 75-80%.

How does it work?

The operating process is quite simple, the camera takes several pictures with a different color range, as well as with different brightness. Usually there can be from 3 to 5 such pictures, but you don’t see this, because it’s all done automatically and very quickly. Later, from these images, one is compiled with improved characteristics - brightness and color rendition. After that, it is displayed on your display or TV.

Video cameras - video recorders have already automatically learned to improve the video image, which again should be played on HDR devices.

Actually, to get maximum efficiency, you must have not only equipment that records video or photos in HDR, but also equipment on which it will be played back - TVs, displays or gadget screens.

It is worth noting that DVRs are now developing very rapidly, video is no longer shot with HD resolution (1280X720), but often with FULL HD (1920X1080), but SUPER HD (2304x1296) or 4K (4096X2160) are not uncommon. Of course, with such resolutions the detail increases, but if it is dark or slushy outside, then the resolution will not help. We need a function that will improve the picture.

This is precisely the purpose of HDR; if in bright weather it does not work so noticeably, then in slush and darkness it is simply necessary.

The image of all kinds of objects is improved - primarily license plates, pedestrians, road markings, signs and other things. It is especially important to see license plates, because at night they can be illuminated by car headlights. It should be noted that in controversial situations (accidents), every little detail is simply necessary, therefore the HDR function is NECESSARY IN VIDEO RECORDS!

TV and telephone

These devices use HDR to enhance the video experience or enhance the display. For example, a TV improves the quality of the picture and color reproduction, but a phone uses this function both to display the display (that is, viewing videos, photos, a browser, and just the screen), and to shoot videos or photos with the built-in camera.

True, HDR is not available to all gadgets, but only to flagship ones; on cheap gadgets, the price of the model will rise too much.

So everything is simple, now a small roller to secure the material.

That's all, I think it was useful. Sincerely yours, AUTOBLOGGER

HDR means high dynamic range, for more concise and convenient use the English abbreviation is used, HDRI - high dynamic range of the image. HDR is a type of photography that allows you to create images with greater dynamic range than is normally possible.

To understand what it is and understand how to use it, you first need to understand what dynamic range is.

Dynamic range

Dynamic range is a measure of the spectrum of lighting at various levels - from the darkest blacks to the brightest whites - that can be displayed on a camera. Dynamic range determines the amount of contrast you can capture or display without losing detail.

The dynamic range you can capture with a camera is significantly higher than what can be displayed on your monitor.

Why is this so important?

Some scenes may have too much contrast due to certain types of lighting. This is why experts advise avoiding shooting at midday in bright sunlight, as cameras cannot cope with the full range of light. In low light, other problems may arise - the image will be too dim and lack contrast. As a result, the photo will have soft shadows, but the frame itself will be a little plain.

Midtone Image

Are there ways to avoid this?

When shooting digitally, these problems are much easier to solve, since the shooting result is instantly visible on the display. Depending on the resulting frame, you can change the camera settings or change the angle. We can also use flash to reduce the contrast on a sunny day and use a special filter to balance the difference in brightness between the sky and the landscape.

Moreover, there are processing techniques that can be used in Photoshop, especially if the shooting took place in RAW mode, which allows you to obtain images with maximum detail in the darkest and lightest areas of the frame.

How does HDR work?

HDR allows a greater range of brightness to be used in an image, and the range can be much greater than in a normal image. True Image HDR is created from several images of the same scene, taken with slightly different exposures.

Each exposure captures part of the tonal range. They are then combined into one image using special software.

What is meant?

True Image HDR contains a much larger range of tones - too much, in fact, to display on a normal computer monitor or when printed on paper.

They are typically stored as 32-bit files that can convey up to 4,300,000 shades of each color channel. For comparison, standard JPEG file allows you to transfer 256 (8-bit) shades per channel, and the RAW file transfers from 4000 (12-bit) to 16,000 (16-bit) shades per channel.

So what do you do with this very large file?

The next step for most HDR images is tone mapping. The program uses a 32-bit HDR image to create an image with a contrast range that can be reproduced in print or on a monitor.

Each tonal value will be recalculated at a different scale. The result is a new image in which you can see all the details in both the brightest highlights and the darkest shadow areas. This is the importance of the tone mapping you can get from HDR.

How to use HDR creatively?

Many enthusiasts use not only HDR in combination with software, they moved on. They do not set themselves the task of creating a realistic image, they strive to create an original artistic image that no longer looks realistic. The resulting effect is similar to that used in the hyperrealistic style of painting. Some people like it, some don't.

Image at brightest exposure

What software is needed?

There are many programs that include HDR - including free ones. The most famous program is Photomatix Pro, but the latest Photoshop version(CS5) has a built-in HDR center.

Typically HDR programs have a range of sliders to help you control the tone and give you the ability to make the effect the way you like.

How to shoot with HDR?

Essentially the process is the same as bracketing. The number of shots you'll need depends largely on the actual tonal range of the scene you're shooting. The greater the contrast, the more shots you should take.

Typically three photographs are taken, but depending on the shooting situation, you may need to take as many as nine photographs, each one or two stops different from the previous one. Some DSLR cameras have AEB (automatic exposure bracketing), which will allow you to do this without additional hassle.

Darkest exposure image

What other settings should I use?

The sequence of your shots should be as close in content to each other as possible (though obviously the brightness will vary). Any changes caused by motion can create a halo that your software then has to deal with.

In modern smartphones, the camera settings are amazing in their capabilities. Although the built-in cameras of phones can hardly compete with digital cameras, they nevertheless offer the ability to take portraits and macro shots, often have the ability to shoot frame by frame, set shooting parameters in manual mode, and much more. Among all the variety of settings you can see the modest abbreviation HDR, and if the rest of the camera settings are intuitive, then this installation often raises the question, “what is HDR in a phone camera?” Answer to this question We will try to give it in an accessible way, and without going deeply into the technical complexities of this mode.

This abbreviation comes from the English High Dynamic Range, which literally means “wide dynamic range” and determines the ability to most fully capture tones in pictures, from the lightest to the darkest. Low dynamic range is one of the most bottlenecks V mobile cameras ah, which is almost impossible to improve with hardware due to the small area of ​​the camera sensor. And if high-quality color rendition for mobile photography is no longer a problem, due to the increased resolution of mobile cameras and the power of processors in phones, then the dynamic range is limited precisely by the size of the cameras in phones.

If in digital cameras the large area of ​​this element is practically unlimited, then in phones this is a critical moment due to the size of the device. Thus, the larger the sensor area, the better camera captures transitions from light to dark. A small sensor, accordingly, copes with this task worse. This means that, for example, a light texture on a white fabric will not be captured in the photo, or the details of the subject in a dark place will not be clearly defined.

To solve this problem in mobile photography without increasing the size of the device, manufacturers resort to a software and hardware trick that forces the camera to take several pictures of the same object with different exposure times.

Simply put, the HDR mode in a phone camera or HDR shooting is a quick series of shots of an object, in which in each shot (at least three) the object will be captured with an average exposure time, with a longer exposure time for better reproduction of dark tones and with short time exposure for more accurate reproduction of light tones.

Next, the series of images is processed by the camera software, which combines them into one photo, where all the tones will be presented in an optimal way. It must be said that HDR in a phone camera in no way can compete with full-fledged cameras; it is only photo post-processing, which cannot completely correct the dynamic range, which, as mentioned above, is physically limited by the small size of the mobile camera matrix.

So, we figured out what HDR is on a phone, now let's see in what cases it is necessary to use this function. Some smartphones have an auto-HDR function, when the camera itself switches to this mode, but it happens that it does not work correctly or the auto mode is simply absent, and in these cases the owner of the device must enable HDR shooting himself.

The presence of HDR in the phone camera will help “stretch out” a photo in conditions of very high contrast or, conversely, too low. For example, photographing objects on a bright sunny day, some of which are in the shadows, and some of which are brightly lit. These can be tall buildings on city streets, where the first floors are in the shade, and the upper floors are brightly lit by the sun. If you take the entire building from a perspective, then in the photograph its upper part will look whitish or even merge with the sky, and the lower floors will appear gloomily dark. In this case, switching the camera to HDR shooting mode will help even out the tones in the photo to more or less acceptable qualities.

Or another example is photographing a person in a room opposite a brightly lit window, when in normal shooting mode the person in the photo often appears as a vague silhouette.

Another example is taking photographs of illuminated objects with your phone at night. Here, with a predominance of dark tones, the illuminated areas in the photograph will look like blurry light spots. Enabling HDR mode in this case will help you take a photo in acceptable quality.

An HDR camera will help in night shooting conditions, when the sharpness of the photo inevitably suffers during long handheld exposures. Without a secure hold on the phone, blur in the photo can be saved by HDR shooting, which, when shot in a series, makes the final image sharper than a photo without HDR.

On a cloudy day, when the photo looks dull and faded, the HDR shooting mode will help to pull out the color rendition, making it more saturated.

In any case, when you have the opportunity and time to compare photos on the spot, take photos both in normal mode and in HDR. After that, compare the photos and choose the best option.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it must be said that HDR in a phone camera is not a panacea for low-quality pictures, especially considering the fact that the algorithm for operating this mode varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and even among different models A phone from one manufacturer works differently - in some places it’s better, in others it’s worse. Also, keep in mind that HDR mode is not suitable for photographing moving objects. they will be blurred due to continuous shooting and longer photo processing time

If you are a lover of mobile photography, then by using this mode in various conditions on your phone, sooner or later you will begin to feel when the need for HDR photography arises. Good luck!

Surely you have heard that modern smartphones support HDR shooting mode. This article will let you understand what its essence is.

HDR technology wasn't invented yesterday. However, its appearance could not have happened in the era of film cameras. And the HDR mode could not be present in the first digital cameras and smartphones - they simply would not have had enough power to process pictures with the required speed. Nowadays, such devices allow you to take a couple of frames in a matter of seconds. So, let's understand what HDR is in a smartphone camera.

Any digital camera, including the one built into the phone, has a limited dynamic range. This means that if there are very bright areas in the frame, problems with dark objects begin. For example, let's say you take a photo of a building while in its shadow. Most likely, this will lead to one of two options for the resulting image:

• The clouds in the sky will be clearly visible, but the details of the building itself will be almost indistinguishable;
• The house will appear detailed, but at the same time the sky will turn into a white mush - in some cases it hides the roof of the building in its colors.

It is in such cases that the HDR function comes to the rescue. This mode allows, roughly speaking, to take two frames with different exposures, then combining them into one. As a result, the image will not have very dark areas, nor too bright ones. Detailing will increase significantly - absolutely all objects will be distinguishable. But you should not use this mode on permanent basis. The fact is that HDR photos often look somewhat unnatural. It is worth activating the mode if the device’s camera does not cope with its task. For example, you are shooting against the light of the sun or in the shadow of a building - then you can use HDR.

Pay attention to the area in the shadow: it is light and the details are clearly visible

It has been noted that owners of budget smartphones use the HDR mode much more often than owners of top-end devices. The fact is that expensive devices are equipped with a higher quality camera with a wide dynamic range.

How it works?

When activating HDR, be prepared for the camera to take several pictures at once - two or even three. Therefore, you should not photograph moving objects in this mode; they may split into two, turning into a kind of ghosts, or become blurred. Pictures will be created at different shutter speeds and exposures. Specific shutter speed values ​​depend on the aperture of the optics, the size of the matrix and many other parameters. That is why full-fledged cameras cope with this task much faster.

Then the received frames are merged into one. The more powerful the processor installed in the camera or smartphone, the less time this process will take. Although we must not forget about the matrix resolution. Of course, 24-megapixel images are more difficult to process than frames with a resolution of 8 megapixels. In any case, even on budget devices you will see the result in a couple of seconds.

Another example of an HDR photo

When taking photographs, autofocus concentrates on areas with different brightness, contrast and distance from the camera. When overlaying frames on top of each other, the system analyzes their quality, selecting areas with the greatest clarity. Also, the final image will consist of areas with better saturation and less noise.

High Dynamic Range technology can be implemented in completely different ways in different smartphones. Somewhere the pictures are simply superimposed on each other and then slightly blurred. And on more powerful and new devices the above process occurs.

How to shoot in HDR mode?

Now almost all “Camera” applications equipped with modern smartphones are equipped with the corresponding function. This means that there is no need to install any additional ones. The HDR icon may be in the mode selection menu. And in many cases, it can be found right on the main Camera screen, next to the flash activation. Be that as it may, you are required to touch this icon.

It's simple

Then you take a photo with the usual touch of the shutter button. But if a regular photo is created in a split second, then in the case of the HDR mode you will have to wait for some time. Try to hold your smartphone motionless for one or two seconds. It is important! Otherwise, you won't succeed.

Some third party applications provide HDR mode settings. That is, you can choose how much the exposure will change when taking several frames. IN preinstalled programs“Camera” usually does not have such a setting.

The difference between a regular photo and HDR is obvious.

That's it, the HDR photo is ready! Nothing complicated!

Disadvantages of HDR

Let's briefly summarize. The main advantage of the HDR mode should be clear to you: all areas of the frame taken in it will be equally detailed and bright. What disadvantages does such a regime have?

• Shooting multiple frames takes time- and the worse the camera built into the smartphone, the greater the chance of getting an output image with blurry objects.
• Unnatural lighting- the reality in the final photograph will be far from what you saw with your own eyes.
• You might miss the moment- processing images in HDR mode takes at least a couple of seconds. Continuous shooting is thus excluded.

Now you understand the benefits of HDR photography, as well as its main disadvantages. We hope that you learned something new for yourself. Be sure to share your opinion in the comments whether you use the HDR function and whether it is well implemented in your smartphone.