Camera Modes - what does HQ actually do ?

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ipmanwck

Senior Member
As they title said I tied to find out but am at a loss in trying to find out exactly what is happening when we use the HQ mode in the camera app.

In night scenes it seems to produce a better photo but the shutter speed is the same. One plus have not really said what they have changed since the HD to HQ update so wondered if anyone could let me know ? Is it an extra stop in exposure maybe ?
 

ipmanwck

Senior Member
Just watch this video:

(HD recently got renamed to HQ)

Thanks for the video but it didn't really answer my question as it was only a comparison.

That video just compared the 2 options of HD (which has slightly changed since they renamed it to HQ) and HDR. It does not explain what kind of post processing happens apart from staying it used a de noise filter. I wonder what "exactly" is happening with exposure, contrast, saturation etc when you use this HQ mode ?

If anyone knows that would be really helpful.
 

AcmE85

Senior Member
Jan 19, 2012
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@jdawgg21 Nope, that's not it.

When using HQ in lowlight, it automatically reduces shutter-speed even more compared to the already lower speed in auto-mode.
Lower shutter-speed = lower framerate
1/30s = 30fps
1/10 (mostly when using HQ) = 10 fps ;)

When others say they don't see the lag, it must only mean they did not test this in the same lighting conditions as you did.
It "lags" here too and so does it on every device which will use 1/10 or even lower shutter speed which shows you a real-time preview of what the image will approximately look like when taking the shot.
 
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ipmanwck

Senior Member
@jdawgg21 Nope, that's not it.

When using HQ in lowlight, it automatically reduces shutter-speed even more compared to the already lower speed in auto-mode.
Lower shutter-speed = lower framerate
1/30s = 30fps
1/10 (mostly when using HQ) = 10 fps ;)

When others say they don't see the lag, it must only mean they did not test this in the same lighting conditions as you did.
It "lags" here too and so does it on every device which will use 1/10 or even lower shutter speed which shows you a real-time preview of what the image will approximately look like when taking the shot.

Finally a sensible answer. Thanks man. I had been asking around and Juan Bagnel said it's probably doing something like a dslr de noise function so what you said makes sense I have only used it indoors with artificial light so probably had no lag but so is what is displayed on the screen if it is leggy is representative of the shutter speed ?
 
D

Deleted member 7600982

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I have heard from a Carl Pei interview that the camera is the reason for the phone having 6gb of ram because it snaps 4 photos at the same time we snap one photo. The phone then automatically chooses the best one photo of those four photos. I reckon that is also a probable answer due to the lag you are experiencing.

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AcmE85

Senior Member
Jan 19, 2012
2,978
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I have heard from a Carl Pei interview that the camera is the reason for the phone having 6gb of ram because it snaps 4 photos at the same time we snap one photo. The phone then automatically chooses the best one photo of those four photos. I reckon that is also a probable answer due to the lag you are experiencing.

No, this is not the answer for the "lag". Why doesn't it lag in good lighting then?
I already gave the correct explanation for this.

As an example: I don't know if you have experience with the OnePlus One. It also started lagging much heavier in lowlightconditions due to the low shutter-speed.
Eventually, Sultan released his modded camera hal which forced the camera to not go below 1/30s on the shutter-speed.
The result was a perfectly fluid viewfinder regardless of the lighting conditions.

I am only talking about the fluidity of the viewfinder here. (Shutter-speed and video-framerate is a whole different story not to be mixed-up here...)

I've seen this interview too,
but I don't agree with him that it takes the best of these 4, instead I think that it somehow combines them into one.
This often results in more blurry pictures, even in good lighting!
Check this video I did on this issue:
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/KidtanPE/file.html
As you can already see in the video, all images were taken without HQ or HDR. You can clearly see this when taking a picture and quickly swiping to the gallery.
For an instant, you will see the unprocessed picture which quickly changes as processing is being applied! Sometimes to the worse though :/
This gets more pronounced the more the ISO level goes up on a shot.

I was holding my phone as steady as possible and you can see that the shots which are displayed first look sharp before postprocessing.
So how can this be explained when, as Carl says, "the camera takes the best out of 4 shots"?!?
 
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ungeeked

Senior Member
Jun 12, 2012
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I first thought that in HQ mode, the camera is doing Dynamic Denoise

Grainy pictures are a thing of the past with Dynamic De-noise, which takes several photos and compares them to reduce noise and improve clarity.
Source

However GSMA review says that the Denoise function gets activated automatically when there is minimum handshake and is not dependent on modes.

A few other things I have noticed.

1) On 3.1.x the noise suppression was very aggressive, almost like a water paint effect. On 3.2.x, the photos are more natural. Still less noise that normal mode.

2) The minimum shutter speed in HQ mode is 1/10 while without HQ it is 1/17

3) RAW is disabled in HDR as well as HQ modes. This makes me think that the HQ (like HDR) is using multiple snaps to filter noise that is Dynamic denoise. If you quickly switch image preview after clicking a pic, you can see the transition from normal to HQ happening. This is definitely not normal noise reduction.
 
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AcmE85

Senior Member
Jan 19, 2012
2,978
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This makes me think that the HQ (like HDR) is using multiple snaps to filter noise that is Dynamic denoise. If you quickly switch image preview after clicking a pic, you can see the transition from normal to HQ happening. This is definitely not normal noise reduction.

This is exactly what I said in my post right above yours and it even happens when HQ and HDR are disabled.
Check the linked video. I bet this is what you mean.
I hate this behavior, often faces are smoothed out because of this, even in perfect lighting conditions.
 
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AcmE85

Senior Member
Jan 19, 2012
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Hi, it seems the HQ mode does not generate RAW file, someone He checked?

A raw file is a photographic negative without any processing applied to it.
So even when the app would generate a raw file in HQ mode,
it would not look any different than the raw file created with HQ disabled.

My best bet is that the app is saving its resources for the HQ postprcessing,
thus completely skipping the raw part intentionally.
 

manu.mr64

New member
Jul 28, 2016
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0
Reus
A raw file is a photographic negative without any processing applied to it.
So even when the app would generate a raw file in HQ mode,
it would not look any different than the raw file created with HQ disabled.

My best bet is that the app is saving its resources for the HQ postprcessing,
thus completely skipping the raw part intentionally.

OK understand, thank you very much :)
 

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    Just watch this video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md3Ow6AEwLU

    (HD recently got renamed to HQ)
    1
    @jdawgg21 Nope, that's not it.

    When using HQ in lowlight, it automatically reduces shutter-speed even more compared to the already lower speed in auto-mode.
    Lower shutter-speed = lower framerate
    1/30s = 30fps
    1/10 (mostly when using HQ) = 10 fps ;)

    When others say they don't see the lag, it must only mean they did not test this in the same lighting conditions as you did.
    It "lags" here too and so does it on every device which will use 1/10 or even lower shutter speed which shows you a real-time preview of what the image will approximately look like when taking the shot.
    1
    I have heard from a Carl Pei interview that the camera is the reason for the phone having 6gb of ram because it snaps 4 photos at the same time we snap one photo. The phone then automatically chooses the best one photo of those four photos. I reckon that is also a probable answer due to the lag you are experiencing.

    No, this is not the answer for the "lag". Why doesn't it lag in good lighting then?
    I already gave the correct explanation for this.

    As an example: I don't know if you have experience with the OnePlus One. It also started lagging much heavier in lowlightconditions due to the low shutter-speed.
    Eventually, Sultan released his modded camera hal which forced the camera to not go below 1/30s on the shutter-speed.
    The result was a perfectly fluid viewfinder regardless of the lighting conditions.

    I am only talking about the fluidity of the viewfinder here. (Shutter-speed and video-framerate is a whole different story not to be mixed-up here...)

    I've seen this interview too,
    but I don't agree with him that it takes the best of these 4, instead I think that it somehow combines them into one.
    This often results in more blurry pictures, even in good lighting!
    Check this video I did on this issue:
    http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/KidtanPE/file.html
    As you can already see in the video, all images were taken without HQ or HDR. You can clearly see this when taking a picture and quickly swiping to the gallery.
    For an instant, you will see the unprocessed picture which quickly changes as processing is being applied! Sometimes to the worse though :/
    This gets more pronounced the more the ISO level goes up on a shot.

    I was holding my phone as steady as possible and you can see that the shots which are displayed first look sharp before postprocessing.
    So how can this be explained when, as Carl says, "the camera takes the best out of 4 shots"?!?
    1
    I first thought that in HQ mode, the camera is doing Dynamic Denoise

    Grainy pictures are a thing of the past with Dynamic De-noise, which takes several photos and compares them to reduce noise and improve clarity.
    Source

    However GSMA review says that the Denoise function gets activated automatically when there is minimum handshake and is not dependent on modes.

    A few other things I have noticed.

    1) On 3.1.x the noise suppression was very aggressive, almost like a water paint effect. On 3.2.x, the photos are more natural. Still less noise that normal mode.

    2) The minimum shutter speed in HQ mode is 1/10 while without HQ it is 1/17

    3) RAW is disabled in HDR as well as HQ modes. This makes me think that the HQ (like HDR) is using multiple snaps to filter noise that is Dynamic denoise. If you quickly switch image preview after clicking a pic, you can see the transition from normal to HQ happening. This is definitely not normal noise reduction.
    1
    This makes me think that the HQ (like HDR) is using multiple snaps to filter noise that is Dynamic denoise. If you quickly switch image preview after clicking a pic, you can see the transition from normal to HQ happening. This is definitely not normal noise reduction.

    This is exactly what I said in my post right above yours and it even happens when HQ and HDR are disabled.
    Check the linked video. I bet this is what you mean.
    I hate this behavior, often faces are smoothed out because of this, even in perfect lighting conditions.