HTC One camera purple tint possible fix
- Thread starter hokoonho
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I contacted HTC support, put in a repair ticket, sent it in, and had it back by end of the week. No charge, even though it is out of warranty period. Had mine back within about a week. Took them less than a couple of hours to do the repair.
And yes, I did get my original phone back. It had the screen protector and a small nick in the metal frame
And yes, I did get my original phone back. It had the screen protector and a small nick in the metal frame
I sent mine back also even though it was out of warranty. When I got it back the buttons were recessed into the phone and the screen wasn't all the way goes down. Camera was fixed though. Called them back and they offered to advance exchange another one. I got that one and it looks perfect and the camera works fine. Since this is my backup backup phone it was worth the time.
Hi, did they send it with a small nick in the frame? Or before you sent it to them there was already a nick?
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12Just want to let every developer know, I have a possible way to fix the purple tint.
This is my findings...
When you set your saturation and explosure to -1, the purple tint just gone. But saturation -1 seems too much for the photo. It is ideal to have -0.5 or somthing.
It is nice that if a developer know how to modify the Camera setting and make it default.
7
This is most likely an incorrect assumption. If you check out the primary thread for this issue http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2317507 you'll see that it cannot be software alone and is mostly hardware. I'll spare you from reading through the 260+ pages in the thread, here's a summary of why:
-For many it can be induced by heat (physical induction means physical problem). Some can be fixed by cooling below 20 degrees (same)
-On both Google and normal editions
-Independent of batch and factory (so far)
-On all versions of OS and firmware (definitely not just 4.2)
-Worsens with time (software doesn't behave like that)
-Replacing the sensor temporarily fixes it
-Replaced sensors seem to begin to develop it again with time
-It is well known that some image sensors are more prone to this kind of heat noise problem
Why do some phones not have it? Could be luck (a few better sensors in an ocean of not so good ones), maybe it hasn't developed yet (we know it gets worse with time), or maybe there's actually more than one problem going on here. The last possibility is interesting because while everyone seems to have the color issue, some aren't as impacted by factors, some have other patterns of noise, etc... It's hard to say.
But it can't be entirely software given the above.6Arvato Germany Experience
I am writing this post to let everyone know about my experience concerning the service that HTC offers in Germany through Arvato (in Bielefeld).
My phone, a red unbranded HTC One with an August mfg. date, was purchased in the UK the last days of September 2013. It came with an ST sensor made in July. At first it was ok, then gradually its sensor began degrading. The firmware upgrade that came with android 4.3 and introduced the software fix (the one that defaults the iso at very low levels when in low light) at first did the trick, but as time passed the problem became so severe that the fix didnt work anymore.
During the last month even daylight photos had a hint of purple. All this time I was hesitant to send my phone for repair due to 3 reasons: a) All the horror stories stated here (phone back with the same problem,or fixed phone that later on developed the same problem, or scratched/poorly handled phone), b) the fact that I didnt want to be left with a phone that cannot be s-offed, as well as c) the fact that I didnt want to lose my 40$ Spigen Glas.tr that I have fitted perfectly and that is so hard to find nowadays.
I decided to bite the bullet and send it for repair, facing the concequences. Since I currently live in Germany, Arvato was my only choice. The whole procedure lasted 7 days, including a weekend and the days the phone was in transport.
Results:
-The phone came back very, very well packed. Its condition was INTACT. Except from 2 tiniest, pinhead-shaped dots in the apex of the chassis close to the volume rocker, marks that you cannot see (and trust me when I say that they are nearly invisible, I am heavily OCD) the phone returned in the same pristine condition exactly as I sent it, covered in plastic foil front and back, in a sealed plastic bag, in a ton of bubblewrap.
-Except from the replaced camera sensor (which the enclosed repair details state as a SHARP one, although in the sensor info file it is stated as the classic OV) they replaced the top and bottom speaker covers, the volume rocker (with a more matte one) the already flimsy USB port, the headphone jack, and half a dozen of thermal insulation pads.
-Lastly, the fact that blows my mind (in a good way) is that they didnt mess with my glass screen protector at all! Although they explicitly stated that the screen protector will be destroyed and discarded, I insisted on taking care of it if possible, and they did. My phone came back with the protector intact, and on top of that they even included a new HTC screen protector on the box!
The aftermath:
-The phone now takes crystal clear pics in every lighting condition. Its not only that there is not a single hint of purple in low light, the phone now focuses faster in any condition, and the resulting pics are sharper. I believe that during the last period the old sensor was so much degraded that even in broad daylight the photos produced were not only a little bit tinted, but also very very soft ( as if someone messed with the sharpness option of the camera)
-The device now doesnt heat as much as it used to. Previously after a heavy game or video recording the phone was getting really hot, to the point that it still felt warm after a while even through my jeans pocket. Now it just gets a little warmer, and thats all.
After this experience I have no choice but to undoubtedly reccomend Arvato Services in Germany, as they proved to be really good at what they are doing, at least with that particular problem. Should you live, or have the opportunity to send the phone for repair in Germany, dont hesitate. I wish I would have done it earlier, given the fact that I now see what I was missing by having a crippled camera.So, kudos to Arvato Germany, I wish that every official HTC repair center would act in such a professional manner.6
How is your weather where you are? is hot? how much?.
The problem appears after you reach 34.5C° (95-94F), you can check the temp of your phone dialing *#*#4636*#*# and then choose battery.
This problem is called "amp noise", and is electrical interference to the sensor, the sensor has a bad shielding.
If they just keep replacing the same sensor (same model, same shielding) the problem WILL come back after some use and degradation of the shielding.
You can correct (sort of) this noise using exposure-controller apps, like Camera FV-5.
To reduce the heat from the phone, and have more time to make a shot or record a video, you can set power save mode on, and limit the CPU.
All of this can HELP but not fix the camera, even replacing the sensors will NOT fix this issue until HTC improves the shielding of the sensor.
This can be helped via FW also, but its a longshot, maybe with 4.4? some people reported to having the problem almost fixed with that.
If in my country was winter right now, I will never gonna find out this, 'cause here we have 8 months of cold, below 16C°, and the phone under 34C° performs great.
High ISO in a phone is a bad idea, little room and so much hot and noise.
The Galaxy S4 have only 800 ISO max, and that's for a reason.
Maybe the problem is the motherboard, or the design itself, and it's too expensive to totally fix it, who knows, but i know for sure, that ISO +800 in a phone is gonna be tricky, and that is why this problem is happening again to people who got the sensor replaced, from all over the world, and in differents time-frames.
Amp noise happens to every camera, even the most expensives, the longer you got the camera on
Wanna do a test? just go to a low lighted room, and turn on your camera and set the ISO at its highest (1600 i think?), and just focus something, but make sure that the corners of your camera are in a dark spot and wait, but do not let the camera go in sleep mode, we want to have ful exposition, and test how fast the sensor will heat up.
Most of the cameras, after 15 minutes or so, wil show some blue-purple amp noise in the corners, that is normal.
If your phone, after 5 minutes or less starts to show purple-blueish spots on the corners, then it's not properly shielded/heat protected, and that duration will go down with time.
PD: If you live in a cold country its obvious that the test will be affected.
Sorry for my english, its not my prim language.
PD2: The explanation of why the screen will turn all purple/red when you cover the lens or enter a dark room is simple, is 'cause the phone, when detects no light at all, it will set the ISO to the max, in order to get some light, that makes the sensor heat up really fast, and if hets up, and had a bad shielding then the noise happens.
The 4.3 "fix" just make this mechanism work backwards, now when the phone detects a lot of dark, or complety dark, it sets iso to 100, to prevent overheating.
And thats why also some users experiment some "flashing" like a disco in some low light conditions after the 4.3 fix, 'cause the phone says:
-OH SHT! THERE IS NO LIGHT NO LIGHT! I MUST TURN ISO 100, MUST FIX THIS HEAT!
but then detects light
-OH WAIT! THERES SOME LIGHT HERE! LETS RAISE UP THE ISO!
but then you just move the phone a little to the left and...
-OH NO! DARK AGAIN, LOWER THE ISO NAO!!
Result: flashing screen disco madness xD5
You had the basic concept down up until you mentioned tweaking software. No algorithm can get rid of the shroud of noise that basically overwhelms the sensor and prevents it from capturing actual image data. The problem is that the old camera modules aren't properly shielded. Thermal and electrical noise from other parts of the phone are always interfering with the sensor, though in bright light, you won't notice it because the ISO (sensitivity) is turned down and you still have a large signal-to-noise ratio. In low light, where the signal is pretty weak, that's when you run into problems. At that point the noise is physically "blocking" the photons and the camera isn't able to distinguish between real and garbage data.
