Do you know how to use the HDR function that comes with your mobile phone? If you use it well, you can shoot a big movie!

Our mobile phones all have HDR function.

But many people don't know what this function does.

I don't know what HDR algorithm is.

So what is HDR algorithm?

Normal mode shooting ▼

Turn on HDR mode shooting ▼

-Obviously, when shooting in HDR mode, the picture is more layered and colorful.

In recent years, flagship mobile phones of various brands have successively launched different HDR schemes. For example, the smart HDR of iPhone Xs, HDR+ of Google Pixel, AI HDR+ of Huawei P30 and so on. In the One Plus Seven 7Pro released this month, the "Super Night Scene" also adopts HDR algorithm, which can increase exposure and suppress noise.

So, why should major mobile phone brands focus on improving the HDR algorithm of cameras? What kind of experience can I get from improving HDR algorithm? Let's see what HDR is!

What exactly is HDR?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which means High Dynamic Range. High dynamic range refers to the light range from the darkest to the whitest of photos taken by digital products. The larger the dynamic range, the more light and dark details, the richer the colors, and the more layered the picture looks.

Due to the limited dynamic range of digital photosensitive elements, we often encounter poor exposure control when shooting night scenes with strong contrast between light and dark.

The problem to be solved by HDR technology is to accurately restore the wide dynamic range in Gao Fancha scene.

The principle is similar to the exposure function of a camera. Different exposure strategies are used for synthesis. Short exposure is used to obtain high-light images, and long exposure is used to obtain dark images. The light is mapped from high dynamic range to low dynamic range, thus obtaining convincing lighting effect.

Which mobile phone is stronger in HDR?

The latest HDR technology is different from the HDR photo mode of "overexposed, normal and underexposed" in the past three photos.

The newly upgraded HDR algorithm not only better controls the brightness of the picture light, but also significantly improves the shooting speed.

Here are a few examples:

1, iPhone Intelligent HDR

In the iPhone Xs series released in the second half of last year, Apple added intelligent HDR technology to the iPhone for the first time, which not only spelled speed, but also AI intelligence.

The intelligent HDR function of iPhone Xs will automatically take four photos when the shutter is pressed, and the camera will also take repeated frames with different exposure levels between frames to capture more details of light and dark parts. Finally, the processor will select the best four photos to synthesize one photo.

Low-exposure "inter-frame" photos and long-exposure dark details mean that overflow and overexposure of bright areas can be better avoided in the end. Apple calls it zero shutter delay technology.

All the operations behind these are realized at a very high speed. Apple said that a lens can run 1 trillion times, which sounds exaggerated, because in the process of real-time camera viewing, intelligent HDR has already started to calculate, but we may not have any perception when using it.

2. Google Pixel HDR+

Google Pixel, which represents the Android phone camp, is considered as one of the best HDR+ imaging technologies in Android phones. It takes several underexposed images at the same exposure time, and then compresses them into jpeg by stacking multiple RAW images.

In fact, just before you press the shutter, Google Pixel camera has taken many photos in advance. When you press the shutter, the algorithm will filter out the best quality photos.

This is very dependent on the computing power of mobile phones, so on Pixel 2, Google specially developed the Pixel Visual Core core. Pixel 3 improves HDR+ computing power, and users can get good exposure photos without waiting when shooting.

3. Huawei P30 series AI HDR+

As we all know, Huawei P30 Pro has good camera imaging capability. This time, the P30 series has added the AI HDR+ function, which is automatically generated by the mobile phone without manual opening.

For dim light and backlight scenes, the portrait mode, standard mode and front camera of Huawei P30 series rear camera are deeply optimized. After multiple processes such as color matching and dimming, the photos will be presented on the screen of the mobile phone with the best effect.

Let's take a look at the imaging principle of AI HDR+ through a Gif picture.

In the portrait part of AI HDR+, the software carries out machine learning from tens of thousands of professional portrait photos with dark light and backlight, and optimizes the illumination of the face by region through accurate portrait segmentation algorithm to present a more quality stereoscopic effect. Whether it is shooting people or taking selfies, the facial light and background are more real and natural.

Generally speaking, different manufacturers have different HDR algorithms and different imaging effects.

Better algorithms make photos easier.

Although mobile phone photography can't reach the level of so-called "professional photography", its intelligence and convenience are increasingly favored by many photographers.

More and more advanced algorithms, coupled with the anti-shake technology of the mobile phone, pick up the mobile phone to determine the composition, turn on the HDR function (generally for dark areas), press the shutter and keep it stable for 2-3 seconds (very important), and then wait for the wonderful scene to happen.

What is HDR algorithm? Let's learn how to turn on HDR. And under what circumstances?

1, how to turn on HDR?

Usually, the mobile phone's native camera automatically turns on HDR by default, but due to the difference of algorithms, it will not turn on automatically in all scenarios. When the mobile phone cannot automatically recognize the scene, manually turn on HDR.

Below I will list the HDR opening methods of several mainstream brands of mobile phones:

Brand: iPhone

Method/Step: Open Settings-Camera-Auto HDR (Off), and then open the camera interface. You will see the HDR function at the top of the screen. You can manually select on and off, default or automatic.

Brand: Huawei P30 Pro

Method/Step: Open the camera interface-swipe "More" to the left-select HDR. Since Huawei's mobile phone now mainly promotes the AI camera function, HDR is not fixed on the camera main interface.

Brand: One Plus Mobile Phone

Method/Step: Open the camera interface-Slide the bottom up-Set-Manual HDR.

If you don't know how to turn on HDR on your mobile phone, you can leave a message below.

2. Which scenes will use HDR?

Usually, in some high-light environments, HDR mode needs to be turned on when shooting.

1, sunset/dawn, which preserves the foreground details, suppresses the glare of sunset in the distance, and makes the picture full of layers;

2. Backlight environment, such as indoor and outdoor shooting, indoor and outdoor light contrast is large. We need to turn on HDR mode to preserve indoor details.

3. When shooting the sky and buildings upside down, you can not only shoot clear buildings, but also keep the details of clouds in the sky;

Take a landscape photo with strong light, which not only captures the sunshine, but also retains the color details of the grass.

Remember what it said? When HDR photography is enabled, it is best to click on the darker scene (not the darkest) in the picture, so that the exposure will be ideal.

It can be said that HDR is a very practical function in mobile phone cameras. If used properly, it will help you to take very brilliant photos, otherwise it may become waste.

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