CamCyclopedia
Qualcomm, Korea
The Snapdragon® Mobile Platform is the chipset that powers the most number of flagship Android smartphones in the world. It has also been a part of Samsung Galaxy devices for years. The Snapdragon Mobile Platform is strong in AI, gaming, connectivity, security, sound, and more, but most importantly, it enables superior camera performance and technology. It is also the reason you can take professional-quality photos and videos without having to lug around a heavy camera anymore.
Qualcomm calls the camera technologies embedded on the Snapdragon mobile platform as "Snapdragon Sight". Today, we're going to take a look at a few of them to see what camera features support on your device.
- Triple ISP
Qualcomm® Spectra™ ISP lies at the center of Snapdragon Sight technology in the Snapdragon mobile platform. The Qualcomm Spectra ISP is an Image Signal Processor that enables professional-grade camera technology in mobile devices. Qualcomm has added endless innovations to improve smartphone camera performance.
Most flagship smartphones these days have at least three cameras on the back that consist of an ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle, and a telephoto. To enable these three different cameras to take photos and videos simultaneously, Spectra ISP is powered by a Triple ISP, or three ISPs. An example of a feature that the Triple ISP enables is the "Director's View Mode" supported by Galaxy smartphones. In this mode, you can simultaneously view different angles from the ultra-wide-angle, wide-angle, and telephoto cameras and switch between them at will, thanks to the Triple ISP. Switching between cameras is faster and smoother because all three cameras are already running in the background.
- 18 bit ISP
The Snapdragon 8 first gen, the Snapdragon mobile platform announced in 2021, is the first to support a triple ISP upto 18 bits for the first time in smartphones. This lets you capture more than 4000x the color and light data than before, and combine more images to improve the quality of your photos and videos. You can capture 30 images in a snapshot, or 6 to 30 images at the touch of a button. That's a lot more bits than you'll find in many professional cameras.
Not only can the 18-bit ISP capture much more data, but also capture it faster. At 3.2 gigapixels per second, a single camera can capture 108 megapixels (MP) at 30 frames per second; each of the cameras in the triple camera can capture 36 MP at 30 frames per second, and 240 12-megapixel photos per second for burst shots.
The 18-bit ISP makes low-light photos brighter. The 18-bit ISP's Mega Multi-frame Engine captures 30 images (about five times more than previous models) and combines the best parts of each image to create one perfect image. This allows brighter photos in darker environments and sharpening of little details without blurring.
- Cognitive ISP that uses AI
The most recent second gen. Snapdragon 8 mobile platform brings another big innovation to the table. Cognitive ISP uses real-time semantic segmentation by employing AI neural networks that enable the camera to detect and individually optimize the sky, face, skin, hair, lips, teeth, clothing, vegetation, and more, making way for customized image tuning in every detail. To achieve this, there is a direct channel called Hexagon Direct Link between the Hexagon processor, which does the AI computation, and the Spectra ISP, which processes the image, to optimize each part of the shot and adjust the image at lightning speed. Qualcomm has been incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into its cameras for some time, but Hexagon Direct Link takes the AI part of the camera to the next level. Check out the demo video below to see how it can make a difference in your shots.
https://players.brightcove.net/1414329538001/BJv5wEFt_default/index.html?videoId=6315583616112
- The best video shooting feature out there
Following the first 4K HDR video, 8K video, and 8K HDR video shoot in a smartphone ever, Qualcomm enabled computational HDR effects in the Gen 1 Snapdragon 8 with Samsung's Staggered HDR Image Sensor and Sony's Digital Overlap Sensor, and now with Gen 2 Snapdragon 8, it supports upto 8K HDR at 60 fps of video playback.
- 200 Megapixel photo capture
The Snapdragon mobile platform has supported 200-megapixel (20-megapixel) photography for several years now, and this year we announced that the Samsung ISOCELL HP3, a 200-megapixel image sensor, will be optimized for Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, enabling even more professional-quality photos and videos. This will enable sharper photos in low-light conditions, shooting in staggered HDR mode with a wide dynamic range, and 8K videos with more details.
- VIULL (Video Ultra Low Light)
Gen 2 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also supports VIULL technology which enables sharper ultra-low-light video.
Shooting in low light is a recipe for introducing noise and grain into pictures. This noise is analysed in the post processing step based on which the next image gets tuned. VIULL technology uses the Motion Compensating Temporal Filter (MCTF) function, which compares two consecutive video images to improve the noise, and runs one more image tuning cycle to improve the noise, thus increasing the quality of low-light images. Now that you've analysed and refined more of the data you're tuning, you'll be able to get higher quality footage, which means you'll be able to capture high SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) footage in low-light conditions - footage that's sharp and has less noise when you zoom in.
Check out the difference between a VIULL technology applied video and an everyday video by clicking on the link below:
https://players.brightcove.net/1414329538001/BJv5wEFt_default/index.html?videoId=6315584201112
Concluding Remarks
These were some of the latest developments in Snapdragon camera technology.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon fan community, Snapdragon Insiders, has been hosting #ShotOnSnapdragon events to share great photos taken with Snapdragon-powered smartphones, as well as a series of creative photography tips videos. The Snapdragon Insiders community, kicking off in 2021 brings you the latest Snapdragon news and events for Snapdragon fans, and we encourage Samsung members to follow the Insiders community to stay connected.
- Shortcut to Snapdragon Insiders Community
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/snapdragon_kr
- YouTube: www.youtube.com/snapdragonkr
Notes
[1] The author of this article is Qualcomm Korea, and the contents and opinions expressed are those of Qualcomm Korea and do not necessarily represent our official statements or opinions.
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