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Posts Tagged ‘Accuracy’

Video: How Photoshop’s ‘Color Adaptation’ setting can improve Content Aware Fill accuracy

09 Dec

Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill tool seems fairly straightforward, but a recent tutorial shared by Adobe shows a clever little trick that could result in more accurate edits.

Shared on its Photoshop YouTube channel, the one-minute tutorial shows how changing the default ‘Color Adaptation’ setting within the Content Aware Fill workspace can result much more accurate fills working with images with gradients in them.

As Adobe’s Meredith Stotznere explains, this setting controls the brightness and contrast of the filled area to better match the surroundings when the default setting is too rough an edit. By default, the setting is on, but not at its highest strength. To improve the feature, Photoshop offers a ‘High’ and ‘Very High’ setting for smoother transitions, as well as an ‘None’ setting for when you’re working with hard edges with overlapping colors.

It’s a small change, but could result in much more pleasing edits when you need to remove objects from an image. You can find more 60-second tutorials on the Photoshop Magic Minute playlist.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Canon’s new EOS R, RP firmware updates improve AF accuracy, performance and more

27 Sep

Today, Canon published the latest firmware updates for its EOS R and EOS RP camera systems. Firmware version 1.4.0 and firmware version 1.3.0 improve the autofocus capabilities fo the EOS R and EOS RP, respectively.

Below is the changelog for the firmware version 1.4.0 update for the Canon EOS R:

Firmware Version 1.3.0 incorporates the following enhancement:
1. Enhances eye detection Auto Focus (AF) for improved face and eye recognition at greater distances.
2. Improved Auto Focus (AF) performance helps the camera to focus on and track smaller subjects.
3. Reduces lag time between the actual Auto Focus (AF) and the AF frame display for images in the viewfinder or on the LCD.
4. Fixes a phenomenon in which the AF frame size cannot be changed in the Servo AF setting.
5. Fixes PTP communication vulnerability.

The changelog for the firmware version 1.3.0 update for the Canon EOS RP reads the same with the exception of bullet point number four which instead reads:

Fixes a phenomenon in which main dial icon may not appear when magnify/reduce button is pressed during the image playback.

The two updates are currently available to download from Canon USA (EOS R, EOS RP).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to Achieve Color Accuracy in your Photos

31 Jan

The post How to Achieve Color Accuracy in your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.

Ricardo Gomez Angel

Next to light, color accuracy is another important element in photography. Color temperature is annoying enough to deal with in terms of camera settings and editing. You spend all this time and effort on editing your photos and making sure they match your photography style. But sometimes the final product can be off if viewed on an uncalibrated screen. While having an accurately calibrated screen is ideal, there are still some things you can do to ensure that the colors are as close to the real deal as possible.

1. Photographing in raw

Karthika Gupta Photography - Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Color Accuracy in Images

Completely overexposed sunset in the Grand Cayman. I love the little sailboat in the distance and tried to correct the image in post.

Karthika Gupta Photography - Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Color Accuracy in Images

The sun is still overexposed and not perfect, but because I photograph in Raw 100% of the time, I could put down the exposure, highlights, contrast and my other normal editing steps. I was able to get some of the details back.

This really is key and I am a huge proponent of photographing in RAW 100% of the time. The colors can be adjusted easily on raw files in editing software like Lightroom, Photoshop, and others. But with jpegs, they’re already baked in. It is not impossible just harder to achieve the exact match.

In Raw files, all the original image data is preserved. In fact, when RAW files are opened in post-production software like Lightroom, a virtual copy is made and used. Edits are made in a non-destructive format so the original RAW file is always available for changes at a later stage. This is very useful when you want to edit images in different ways at different times in your photographic career.

Since a JPEG image is essentially a RAW image compressed in-camera, the camera’s computer makes decisions on what data to retain and which to toss out when compressing the file. JPEG files tend to have a smaller dynamic range of information that is stored and this often means less ability to preserve both highlights and shadow details in the image.

2. Use Kelvin WB mode on your camera

If photographing RAW is not something you can do, or don’t have space for on your flash drives (RAW files tend to be really huge), try photographing using Kelvin White Balance mode instead of Auto White Balance. Not all cameras may have this function, so check your camera manual to figure out the exact menu option and also how to adjust the value. Kelvin lets you adjust the white balance in camera rather than in post. In general, in your camera manual are the ranges of Kelvin values for the various lighting setups. You will have to tweak the values depending on your style and how you want the final image to look.

3. Use a good display screen/monitor

Cheaper screens have smaller color ranges, so the better your screen, the more colors that can be displayed. This is where you’ll be looking at the photos, so you don’t want your image to be limited in that way. At the very minimum, if you’re editing photos, you need a 99% sRGB screen. 100% Adobe RGB capable screens (which is generally better) are also relatively affordable now. That said, most media on the web generally uses sRGB format, so sRGB is perfectly adequate. People generally recommend editing in that color space anyway. In general, for built-in displays like laptops, most modern Mac screens have really good color accuracy and distribution.

Karthika Gupta Photography - Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Color Accuracy in Images

This outdoor space was very hazy when we visited because of many forest fires in the area. That haze and overall air quality and temperature gave a very pink glow to all my images, one that I missed the first time I edited my images on my computer. But then I went back and edited to a more accurate representation of what the scene actually looked like.

4. Calibrate your monitor

Not enough people realize how big a difference calibrating your monitor makes. If your entire computer screen is shifted to be purple, when you look at your final images in a color-calibrated medium, it’s going to end up green. There are several in the market that do a good job like Datacolor Spyder 5 or X-Rite ColorMunki. At the end of the day, they all essentially have the same functionality. Plug in the color sensor, put it against your screen, run the software, and it will automatically install the color profile for you.

5. Edit in a color neutral workspace

Where you sit and work can also make a difference to how you edit. As funny as it may sound, it is true. If you have bright warm sunlight flooding your computer screen, you will likely edit cooler. The eye is automatically going to compensate for the warmth by gravitating towards cooler tones. If you have cool indoor lighting flooding your editing room, that might not work either. Believe it or not, the ideal editing environment is actually a totally dark room, so you don’t pollute any of the colors. I know I cannot edit in a dark room because starting at the screen for too long in that space gives me a headache. If you must edit somewhere with another light source, do your color calibration in that room. The Spyder and ColorMunki can both accommodate the ambient light in your environment.

Karthika Gupta Photography - Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Color Accuracy in Images

The image was shot and edited in the same room with side lighting. Had I not seen this in another room and on another computer, I would have missed the uneven lighting and tonality from the left to the right side of the image, giving it a look of almost photographing with a flash, which was not my intention.

Karthika Gupta Photography - Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Color Accuracy in Images

6. Use multiple devices to spot check color

If you are really doubting your color tones and edits, double check them on another device. Most people have iPhones these days, and iPhones are surprisingly well-calibrated. Unfortunately, you can’t use the calibrators on most phones, to the best of my knowledge, so just send your photos over to your phone, and you should get an idea of how most people are seeing your images.

Karthika Gupta Photography - Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Color Accuracy in Images

The blueish tone in the image here would have been completely missed had I not seen the image on an iPad and an iPhone prior to sending out to a client. I prefer true to form white backgrounds when working with stock photos.

Unfortunately, most people, including myself, don’t pay too much attention to color accuracy in their photos. Most of the color matching stops at editing. Sometimes we even call it ‘photography style’ and leave it at that. But if you really want to understand color and how images can actually look versus relying on a specific style or edit, try one or all these steps. It is actually fairly simple once it clicks.

What techniques do you use for maintaining your color? Share with us in the comments below.

The post How to Achieve Color Accuracy in your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Karthika Gupta.


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NVIDIA researchers develop AI that removes noise from images with incredible accuracy

10 Jul

A team of NVIDIA researchers, in partnership with researchers from Aalto University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has shared details of a new artificial intelligence (AI) program that can remove grain from images with such accuracy that it’s almost scary.

‘Using NVIDIA Tesla P100 GPUs with the cuDNN-accelerated TensorFlow deep learning framework, the team trained [its] system on 50,000 images in the ImageNet validation set,’ says NVIDIA in its announcement blog post.

What’s incredible about this particular AI is its ability to know what a clean image looks like without ever actually seeing a noise-free image. Rather than training the deep-learning network by giving it a noisy image and a clean image to learn how to make up the difference, NVIDIA’s AI is trained using two images with different noise patterns.

‘It is possible to learn to restore signals without ever observing clean ones, at performance sometimes exceeding training using clean exemplars,’ say the researchers in a paper published on the findings. The paper goes so far as to say ‘[The neural network] is on par with state-of-the-art methods that make use of clean examples — using precisely the same training methodology, and often without appreciable drawbacks in training time or performance.’

In addition to being used on photographs, researchers note the AI will also be beneficial in scientific and medical fields. In particular, the researchers detail how magnetic imaging resonance (MRI) scans — which are very susceptible to noise — could be dramatically improved using the program, leading to improved diagnoses.

The team behind the AI will present their work at the International Conference on Machine Learning on July 12, 2018.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung’s ISOCELL Plus promises better color accuracy and low light performance

28 Jun

Samsung’s ISOCELL smartphone image sensor technology was introduced in 2013. It uses physical barriers between neighboring pixels to reduce color crosstalk and expand the capability to capture light, compared to conventional backside-illuminated (BSI) image sensors.

Now the Korean company has launched ‘ISOCELL Plus’ which has been developed in cooperation with FujiFilm. It replaces the metal grid at the front of the pixels with a new ‘mystery’ material, providing even better separation between pixels.

This material reduces reflections and light absorption by the barriers between pixels, leading to increased light sensitivity of up to 15% and better color fidelity. According to Samsung the technology allows for the design of sensors with 0.8µm and smaller-sized pixels without a loss in performance. This is 1/3rd the size of the pixels in a typical 1″-type sensor and should allow smartphone sensors with a resolution of 20MP and higher.

“We value our strategic relationship with Samsung and would like to congratulate on the completion of the ISOCELL Plus development,” said Naoto Yanagihara, corporate vice president of Fujifilm. “This development is a remarkable milestone for us as it marks the first commercialization of our new material. Through continuous cooperation with Samsung, we anticipate to bring more meaningful innovation to mobile cameras.”

In combination with other new mobile imaging technologies, such as multi-frame stacking and multi-sensor camera modules, ISOCELL Plus should allow for the design of smartphone cameras with even better low light performance than we’re seeing in current models.

Samsung will be showcasing the new sensors at Mobile World Congress Shanghai come end of June, but for now there is no word on when to expect the new technology in a production smartphone.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Fujifilm X-Pro2 firmware 2.0 adds focus points, improves PDAF accuracy

07 Oct

Fujifilm has released firmware v 2.0 for the Fuji X-Pro2, bringing many tweaks, changes and bug fixes to the company’s flagship APS-C camera. Among the changes is an increase in the number of focus points to 325, as well as improved phase detection autofocus accuracy via the X-T2’s AF algorithm, improved AF tracking in Continuous L burst rate shooting in AF-C mode, the addition of support for the EF-X500 shoe mount flash, new 15/30 second and 1 minute time options for ‘Auto Power Off,’ and improved optical image stabilization when using the electronic shutter.

The full firmware 2.0 changelog:

  • 1. The NUMBER OF THE FOCUS POINT has increased.(*) The options available are 91 POINTS(7×13) and 325 POINTS(13×25) on the NUMBER OF THE FOCUS POINT of the AF/MF SETTING in the Shooting Menu.
  • 2. Improvement of phase detection AF accuracy. By employing the new AF algorithm used in the X-T2, the AF accuracy has been improved.
  • 3. AF tracking function has been improved when CONTINUOUS L in the AF-C mode.
  • 4. In AF-C mode, AE function will work while pressing the shutter button halfway.
  • 5. AF tracking function works while CONTINUOUS shooting in the AF-C mode with the Electronic Shutter.
  • 6. AF tracking function works while CONTINUOUS H shooting in the AF-C mode instead of zone AF.
  • 7. STILL IMAGE(single frame shooting) is available when CONTINUOUS L in the AF-C mode.
  • 8. The focus point of Eye Detection AF has been changed to the eye closer to the camera.
  • 9. Compatibility with the Shoe Mount Flash EF-X500.(*) Additional functions like the multi-flash lighting, high-speed flash sync and so on can be used with the EF-X500. Accordingly, the FLASH SETTING and the Shooting Menu is dramatically changed.
  • 10. The items that can be assigned to the Quick Menu have changed.(*) FLASH FUNCTION SETTINGS and FLASH COMPENSATION have been added due to the compatibility with the Shoe Mount Flash EF-X500.
  • 11. The roles that can be assigned to the Function buttons have changed.(*) FLASH FUNCTION SETTINGS, TTL-LOCK and MODELING FLASH have been added due to the compatibility with the Shoe Mount Flash EF-X500.
  • 12. Addition of AUTO POWER SAVE.(*) AUTO POWER SAVE option has been added to the POWER MANAGEMENT of the Setup Menu. Select ON to save the power consumption and make the battery life longer.
  • 13. Addition of setting time in AUTO POWER OFF.(*) 15 SEC, 30 SEC and 1 MIN have been added to the AUTO POWER OFF of the POWER MANAGEMENT in the Setup Menu.
  • 14. S.S OPERATION option has been added to BUTTON/DIAL SETTING in the Setup Menu.(*) Select OFF to disable the shutter-speed fine-tuning using the command dials.
  • 15. Change of the CORRECTED AF FRAME in the OVF.(*) Specification of the CORRECTED AF FRAME of AF/MF SETTING in the Shooting Menu has been changed. OFF: The frame moves according to parallax to show the focus point. ON: The CORRECTED AF FRAME in the OVF is fixed on the recommended value described in the Owner’s manual. If the minimum focus range of the attached lens is greater than the recommended value, the frame is displayed on the position of the minimum focus range. *Upgrade the firmware of the lenses after the firmware of the camera is upgraded.
  • 16. The phenomenon is fixed that in rare cases the magnification of the OVF doesn’t switch appropriately when a lens is changed.
  • 17. The bright frame movement in the OVF has become more smoothly while zooming in and out.
  • 18. OIS function has been improved while using Electronic Shutter.
  • 19. The phenomenon is fixed that in rare cases frames of live view on a smartphone drop while using the application software “FUJIFILM Camera Remote”.
  • 20. The phenomenon is fixed that exposure sometimes doesn’t change appropriately in Aperture Priority AE while using an M MOUNT ADAPTER.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google algorithm can caption images with 93.9 % accuracy

27 Sep

Anyone who manages a large image library knows how important keywording and captioning are for categorizing and keeping things searchable. They also know how time-consuming these tasks can be. That’s where artificial intelligence may be able to lend a hand though, and the updated version of Google’s trainable ‘Show and Tell’ algorithm, which has just been made open source, is now capable of describing the contents of an image with an impressive 93.9% accuracy.

Google’s model generates a new captions by using concepts learned from pre-captioned images in the training set.

According to an article on the Google Research Blog the updated algorithm is faster to train and produces more detailed descriptions. The Google researchers trained ‘Show and Tell’ by showing it pre-captioned images of a specific scene to teach it to accurately caption similar scenes without any human help. By making ‘Show and Tell’ open source Google aims to promote research in the field of image recognition.

After the update the image model is now capable of providing more detailed descriptions and more likely to include color descriptions.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Bowens introduces Limelight Mosaic LED panels with better color accuracy

21 Jun

UK lighting manufacturer Bowens has announced an update to its Limelite Mosaic LED panels that it claims is ‘significantly more colour accurate than previous models.’ The Mosaic2 panels boast a CRI and TLCI of 94 while the original models managed only 84, but the Mosaic2 panels are less powerful at 4000Lux@1m instead of up to 5200Lux@1m.

The new panels come in Daylight and BiColour versions with the BiColour model offering temperatures of between 3000-5600K. The lights are dimmable from full power to 0% and Bowens says their cool running temperature makes them suitable for a wide range of applications including shooting food. Both panels can be controlled remotely via an external DMX (Digital Multiplex) mixer which allows multiple panels to be controlled at the same time.

The daylight version will cost $ 834/£654 and the BiColour will be $ 1000/£835. For more information visit the Bowens website.


Press release:

Bowens launches groundbreaking Mosaic2 LED panels

Limelite by Bowens has announced the launch of groundbreaking Mosaic2 LED panels – with ultra-high CRI 94/TLCI 94 light output.

Available in Daylight (5600K) and BiColour (3000K-5000K) options, Mosaic2 uses 576 cutting edge high fidelity LEDs, dimmable from 100-0%, to create 1×1 panels that are extremely powerful and significantly more colour accurate than previous models.

Alan Walmsley, Bowens sales and marketing director said: “Mosaic2 is a powerful addition to our comprehensive portfolio of light tools. These new units, which target the full gamut of photo and video enthusiasts as well as working professionals, embrace the rugged build-quality synonymous with all Limelite products. They are quick to set up and easy to use. This is a truly multi-purpose lighting solution providing feature rich LED panels suitable for small or large studios.”

He added: “These metal-bodied panels, which weigh in at just 1.4kg, create high levels of soft, flattering light that can be further shaped and controlled with our comprehensive range of accessories.

They are also an ideal choice for photographers working with babies, small children and animals who might be startled by flash lighting. And users shooting heat sensitive subjects such as food will benefit from Mosaic2’s cool-running operation.”

The new panels, which will have an RRP of £654 (Daylight model) and £835 (Bi-Colour model), are also designed for video and broadcast work both in studio and on location (with optional battery mounting accessories)

Tim Haskell, Limelite business development manager said: “Mosaic2 1×1 LED panels are used by leading broadcasters and global news gathering operations. Mosasic2 can be controlled remotely via an external DMX mixer and multiple panels can easily be linked and used as a single panel.”

Mosaic2 key features:
*Outstanding colour fidelity
*Ultra-bright LEDs (up to 4000Lux@1m)
* Exceptional build quality
*Fully dimmable and user programmable
*Pre-mounted AC adaptor and international cable kit (use anywhere in the world)
*Wide range of light control, mounting and battery power accessories

Pembrokeshire-based photographer and Panasonic GH camera ambassador Ross Grieve added: “I trialled the new Mosaic2 lights and they are superb. They are now my go-to panels for events and training programmed. I also use them as reflectors when I need more bounce. These panels are child’s play to use and with full control over colour temperature and brightness I have all the power and control I need.”
bowens.co.uk

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Roger Cicala investigates accuracy of lens adapters

30 Sep

adapter.jpg

Mount adapters are incredibly useful for their ability to make lenses from one manufacturer usable with camera bodies from another. But do they have any impact on image quality? LensRentals’ Roger Cicala, not one to take manufacturer’s claims at face value, investigated. Knowing that slight mis-alignments between a lens and even its native mount can cause softness in images, the added complexity with a lens adapter in the mix seemed likely to cause more problems. His findings are indeed interesting. 

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Panasonic demos 20″, 4k tablet with high color accuracy

10 Jan

Tablet.png

CES 2013: Panasonic has been demonstrating a prototype of a 20″ tablet at the CES show in Las Vegas. The large 3:2 tablet is built around a 4k, 3840×2560 pixel IPS display, giving a resolution of 230ppi. The tablet runs Windows 8, meaning it can run full PC software such as Adobe Photoshop. The prototype included a 128Gb SSD to allow fast access to images stored on the device. It also includes a standard USB port for connecting a card reader but only has a port for microSD cards built in.

News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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