The horizon of Light and shadow: A full analysis of mobile AI photography

In theory, the reason why mobile phone photography is associated with AI is that the advent of AI tides, the advances in chip and cloud computing technology have made the calculation of inflation, just to meet the conditions of rapid processing of images. But there are also many people who believe that mobile AI photography is purely a manufacturer's marketing gimmick, just a reaffirmation of the ability to deal with software. But this time launched the P20 series, with the authoritative camera evaluation agency Dxomark's ultra-high score breakthrough before we on mobile phone photography, which is the reason, including the photosensitive element, three cameras such as the hardware upgrade, but also includes the intelligent Chase Coke such as the software upgrade. If we re-examine the AI, we will find that it is creating a wonderful chemical reaction with mobile phone photography.

Users are not satisfied with the mobile phone photos, it is not news.

From the 5 million-megapixel "noble" Nokia, to the hand-to-hand 20 million HD selfie, pixel improvements have not been enough to meet the needs of social networks for image display. People need not only clear pictures, but also beautiful pictures. Shoot the beautiful scenery, shoot everyone beautiful.

For a short time, handset makers don't know how to satisfy their users, they can only provide higher pixels and more zoom. In this empty room, a batch of image processing apps appeared immediately. There are special beauty 美图秀秀, there is a post-snapseed, and even to do double exposure effect of the app, just to meet the needs of a variety of users of the United States.

at this time, the "meta-world" of AI photography has been born. Because users are not enough to have an image-processing app, human nature has been expelling laziness, and users want the app to automatically make the face, recognize the landscape, and add the appropriate filters. At this time for the user, in shooting different objects open different apps camera, take photos and wait two seconds for cloud processing, are acceptable.

Soon the handset makers realized this: the limitations of terminal computing force, the face recognition, image processing relies on facial identification, neural-style migration technology can only sacrifice the user experience in the cloud. However, after lifting the terminal calculation, even if the pixel level does not change much, Ai Plus holds the scene recognition and real-time image processing, the same can enhance the user's photographic experience.

> So today, we're going to see so much mobile AI photography.

perceptual and computational cooperation to capture moments of beauty

But when we talk about AI photography, an element that can't be ignored is the AI chip's ability to increase the calculation. can also be found before, the same is the main AI function, the  Mate10 series, P20 series and glory V10 can be intelligent power saving, intelligent resource scheduling and other dependent on the function of higher calculation.

Logic is the same when it comes to mobile AI photography. In this P20 can Pang dxomark of the table because it is a hardware upgrade, like the camera in the "bottom of the large level of death", the P20 Series 1/1.7 inch sensor area is doomed to provide more light-sensitive ability and detail expression.

But at the same time we need to know that the P20 series can be used in more powerful hardware, and Kirin 970 is closely linked to the strength of the calculation. When our mobile phone from Nokia into a smart machine, the original hundreds of KB of photo files began to become a few megabytes, mobile phone camera module of the more perceptual power, the camera when the chip to deal with the more data. Data overload in any of these features can cause a lag in mobile apps. The ultimate goal of this act of photography is to capture the fine precision of everything that is fleeting. How can these words, which are sluggish and slow, appear in photography?

So we can see that in recent years, several in the photography has a new breakthrough in the mobile phone is the camera module and the two capabilities of the chip to improve, so that the chip speed can keep up with the photographic ability, presented to the user a good shooting experience.

The IPhone x is one of the more typical cases. The most appealing feature of the IPhone x in photography is the human-like effect, the simulation of the algorithm, the light effect of the studio and the combination of the face. To achieve this effect, and the iphone x front 3D structure light sensor is inseparable, only the face structure, contour details of the three-dimensional knowledge, to make the light effect real fit. The large number of data operations brought by 3D structured light sensor is A11 by Bionic chip.

Another typical case is Google's Pixel 2. Google Pixel 2 has also been Dxomark 98 points high score, more than 97 points of the iphone X. Interestingly, when the majority of mobile phones are double-shot, the Pixel 2 can be used with a single camera for better results. And Google's solution is to add a dedicated IPU (image processing coprocessor) and various sensors in the camera head, with the camera to perceive the depth of the space and so on and calculate the data.

On the P20 series, the combination of this chip with the camera hardware is clearer.

Take the Super night view of this function, whether the phone can be better in the dark light shooting, indeed depends on the cell phone itself's photosensitive ability, the larger the size of the sensor, the larger the size of a single pixel, it can enhance the sensitivity of light, to capture more dark details.

Even under high-sensitivity, night-time photography is hard to do with dozens of or even 1%-second shutter times, but takes 2 seconds or longer to complete the light. The natural jitter of the human hand, and may affect the final imaging effect, leaving a blurred picture.

P20 series is to add a jitter reduction algorithm that aligns the images within a few seconds of the shutter, resulting in a clear picture. The entire implementation of the Super Night view also takes only a few seconds. The two tasks of high-pixel imaging and algorithmic processing in these seconds are clearly impossible to achieve without the calculation basis of the Unicorn 970.

Another solution outside the SLR

Many people are beginning to wonder where the next step of mobile photography should go after P20 opens the new world for mobile AI photography. One of the most prominent voice is that mobile phone photography is about to replace the SLR, gradually towards specialization.

about mobile phone photography and SLR photography comparable to this matter, in the P20 has a clue. The P20 series has a photosensitive element that is close to the micro and card machines, as well as the raw format that the SLR camera often applies to, keeping more details handy for later stages, and the user can even choose to manually adjust the focal length, aperture, and shutter with the same professional mode as the SLR m-File ...

Even with so many features, it's hard to really "replace" a DSLR in hardware. The mechanical shutter of a DSLR, the scalability of multiple lenses and flash combinations, is almost insurmountable for mobile phones. At the same time for users to understand the white balance, aperture size, ISO values and other theoretical knowledge, almost only the first step of the introduction of SLR shooting, and then to learn the composition, late and so a series of complex knowledge.

So there are a lot of people holding a DSLR will only press the shutter, Peter Chan but can use the iphone to shoot out the status of the three minutes. Eventually it was found that the gap between photography was not the hardware difference between the SLR and the handset, but the difference in experience between experts and small white.

So in AI Plus, mobile photography can be achieved by allowing most people to cross the complex photographic knowledge required by the SLR, and get closer to the SLR photo effect. Scene recognition, Portrait light effect and Super night view of these capabilities behind, to eliminate the user's parameter adjustment, tripod and so on hardware and software learning process. Another possibility for people who want to record a good life is to take pictures without taking photographs. Mobile AI Photography is not intended to replace anyone, but is another solution.

Just as the P20 series has acquired the name--master ai for AI photography, using AI to delegate the experience and capabilities of the master to every ordinary person is the key to AI in every field.

When the photographic hardware and the chip hardware together to obtain the promotion, the mobile phone AI Photography really has the wing. Along the route until the light and shadow of the horizon, so that everyone can be like a master, in the light and shade between the moment to capture the beautiful.

The horizon of Light and shadow: A full analysis of mobile AI photography