Tag Archives: HDR

OnePlus 9 Slow Motion mode gains 4k 120fps!

OnePlus has finally released its new flagship 2021 phones. And they have built a new 3 year partnership with medium format camera maker Hasselblad to build their phone camera modules.  On this first iteration, we get Ultra Wide 50MP, Wide 48MP or standard and a 3.3x telephoto with 8MP which is the lower quality of the bunch.

OnePlus has respected its own heritage when it comes to frame rates as the new 9 handsets retain the 240fps in Full HD 1080p and 480fps in HD 720p mode for somewhat super slow motion and a new mode of 120fps in full 4k which is exciting. OnePlus had the edge in recording duration in previous phones and this new variant might keep that edge. However, we feel disappointed the resolution did not go up to full HD at 480fps and allow for a 960fps HD mode like many other phones out there. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Oppo Find X3 Pro brings microscopy to phones!

Oppo Find X3 Pro

There is always an outlier when it comes to phone innovation and we have to give it to Oppo in 2021 as it seems to have created a phone that really delivers features that seemed impossible just months ago.  The Oppo Find X3 Pro can deliver the usual 4k 30p and 60p video and up to 720p 480fps slow motion along with the common standard of 240p at 1080p.  Where the phone jumps ahead of the pack is the inclusion of a real microscopy camera module that has a ring light to boot.

The Microscope camera can deliver a mind-altering 60x microscopy range magnification that looks so good that you might think it was taken with a professional clinical microscope.   It will not be enough to show blood cells that usually require over 100x to be appreciated but it delivers detail on small insects, fibers, textures, and electronics that previously required a complicated camera setup attached to a multi-lens instrument. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Nikon Stacked CMOS Sensor Will do 1000fps in 4k!

Nikon Stacked CMOS Sensor

Nikon Japan has been busy creating the next generation of 1″ stacked sensors.  The latest is a 17.84 Megapixel stacked design with hyper-fast memory interconnect that shoots up to 1000fps at 4k resolution which is no slouch. The sensor is still in development but it will be a possibility to see it in a camera that could compete head to head with the Sony RX series which now dominate prosumer P&S sales.  It was announced at ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference) held in San Francisco, February 15, 2021.

The sensor works by shooting in buckets of 16 x 16 pixels as one block, and then subsequently 264 x 264 pixel blocks (4224 x 4224 pixels) are conformed to form the final image at nearly 18MP.  It is unclear at this time if 4k video will be a windowed resolution or a supersampled then reduced final image from the full sensor.  The market for this sensor goes beyond consumer cameras as it is aimed at other applications like self-driving cars and production lines. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Alice Camera and why the Future is Bright!

Alice Camera

The Alice Camera, launched to great success this month has to be the most hopeful product for the future of cameras that we have seen lately. It marries the Sony IMX294, a 10.7 megapixel 4/3 sensor with a custom chipset including the Edge TPU chip from Google for AI and an FPGA for calculations.  The result is a camera body with the same sensor as the GH5s which is a killer low light camera capable of excellent 4k footage and images with super low noise.

Then the camera back is attached to your Android or Apple smartphone to gain an interface and software to control it. The camera is capable of using the latest research for computational photography including HDR with multiple exposures merging, tracking, night mode, averaging of pixels, and as an open-source architecture, you can add features by other coders or your own to make the camera increase the feature set. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

iPhone 12 Pro Slow Motion is best yet for Apple!

iPhone 12 Pro Slow Motion

The iPhone 12 line is a continuation of what Apple has been hinting at since it got serious about video recording on their phones.  However, there is no increment in the maximum frames per second the phone is able to record with the 120p and 240p at 1080p as the maximum the phone is able to record. There is also what could be a feature that is missing that of 120fps 4k considering the phone is already recording 120fps at 4k for HDR video and then delivering it in a 60p wrapper.

With all that said the phone has impressive video and photo specs that will have rivals trying to compete in outlandish features like super zooms or more than 3 cameras to be able to get the spotlight off the iPhone.  There is no question the iPhone 12 is the best camera phone Apple has ever delivered but isn’t this the same result every year when a new device from the company is released? Yes and there lies the problem of yearly upgrades only getting incremental updates and not leapfrog features.

Video Recording iPhone 12 Pro:

  • HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 60 fps
  • 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
  • 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
  • Optical image stabilization for video (Wide)
  • 2x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 4x optical zoom range (iPhone 12 Pro)
  • Digital zoom up to 6x (iPhone 12 Pro)
  • 2.5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 5x optical zoom range (iPhone 12 Pro Max)
  • Digital zoom up to 7x (iPhone 12 Pro Max)
  • Audio zoom
  • Brighter True Tone flash
  • QuickTake video
  • Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
  • Time‑lapse video with stabilization
  • Night mode Time-lapse
  • Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps
  • Cinematic video stabilization (4K, 1080p, and 720p)
  • Continuous autofocus video
  • Take 8MP still photos while recording 4K video
  • Playback zoom
  • Video formats recorded: HEVC and H.264
  • Stereo recording

Video Recording iPhone 12 (NON PRO):

  • HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 30 fps
  • 4K video recording at 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
  • 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
  • 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
  • Optical image stabilization for video (Wide)
  • 2x optical zoom out
  • Digital zoom up to 3x
  • Audio zoom
  • Brighter True Tone flash
  • QuickTake video
  • Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
  • Time‑lapse video with stabilization
  • Night mode Time‑lapse
  • Extended dynamic range for video up to 60 fps
  • Cinematic video stabilization (4K, 1080p, and 720p)
  • Continuous autofocus video
  • Take 8MP still photos while recording 4K video
  • Playback zoom
  • Video formats recorded: HEVC and H.264
  • Stereo recording

IPhone 12 Pro Slow Motion Samples are pending:

We received some so-called slow motion samples from the iPhone 12 but we have determined that they are fake and not from the phone themselves.  The iPhone 12 ships on October 23rd so any samples you might see online could only be from review units and there was no real video quality review that was authenticated. We will have to wait some time for the iPhone 12 video samples to start coming out.  We expect increased dynamic range and better overall noise profile on the iPhone 12 vs the 11, hopefully, we will see a real improvement in the way the phone captures slow motion in 1080p without much in the way of artifacts and aliasing.

Dolby Vision Recording on iPhone 12:

Dolby Vision | Demo | Dolby by Dolby:

In the video above you can see that Dolby Vision is basically a set of technologies that encode video in HDR with high precision color and brightness values that try to mimic reality. The new iPhone 12s record in Dolby Vision which probably use the high frame rate recording (60p for 30p) and 120p for 60p) HDR.

It is of note that slow motion video at 120fps or 240fps in 1080p will not use Dolby Vision as you would need those frame rates doubled to record it. It is a technology best used by 4k recording up to 60fps.

Of course, you will not get Hollywood production quality footage on the phone but it is still going to deliver a better image than your average camera due to the color science behind it.  Also of note is that you will need a TV, monitor or projector that has Dolby Vision compatibility to experience this high dynamic range video footage recording feature.

If you have such a TV we can recommend the clip below to test it:

Perfect Black HDR 8k Dolby Vision by Eugene Belsky: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

OnePlus 8 Pro the best slow motion phone today?

OnePlus 8 Pro the best slow motion

There has been an absence of real world samples of the OnePlus 8 in slow motion due to mainly of the hardware not reaching testers fast enough and the COVID 19 pandemic slowing things even further.  However, we have found a video that shows the OnePlus 8 Pro being compared to the Samsung S20 Ultra and the iPhone 11 Pro in the 240fps slow motion mode.

It is clear that the OnePlus 8 has a more processed image with higher saturation and apparent detail retention. It is also notable that dynamic range seems to be a winner in the OnePlus as well. The quality offered by the new handsets from the Chinese company is really astounding considering more expensive phones simply cannot seem to fully compete here. While more samples are needed the footage below shows a good enough view of what you can expect.

OnePlus 8 Pro the best slow motion phone or just barely?

It is critical to note that more samples are needed and that the OnePlus 8 offers a 480fps mode that is heavily pixelated at 720p and the S20 ultra offers one at 960fps 720p that is very soft but are not compared in this footage.  Once more samples of those modes are available we can revisit them.

Oneplus 8 pro | Samsung S20 Ultra | iPhone 11 pro Max | Slow motion | camera test by Mobizz Phobia:

On this excellent video comparison by Mobizz Phobia, In some instances the iPhone looks to have better detail and color but it is not clear cut. The Samsung in most of the tests at this 240fps 1080p frame rate is clearly the loser with the worst dynamic range and more heavily affected by the compression.

One Plus 8 Pro looks to be the winner at 240p 1080p from these three phones if you only look at this video and it is a tall order since the iPhone 11 has been the best 1080p 240fps phone since last year on our list.   We stress that more samples and direct comparisons must be made to warrant a final verdict.  OnePlus looks to have an excellent phone here but we are not happy about the lower quality 480p so if you want it only for the 240fps then you simply cannot go wrong here.

There are more cameras coming this year and Sony is going to announce on the 26th of May what may be a new RX camera which will make things interesting.  We will definitely update you on that front.  Stay safe out there and thanks for reading! -HSC

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