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Posts Tagged ‘Google’

A look at Google Pixel’s sensor reveals potential HDR video tech

14 Oct
Example of a sensor pattern with spatially varying exposure, in which pixels of the same color receive differing amounts of light. (From the Computer Vision Laboratory at Columbia University.)

Steven Zimmerman over at XDA Developers has just published an article with some insights into the Sony IMX378 sensor used in Google’s recently announced Pixel smartphones. Although he covers a number of technologies likely familiar to DPReview readers, such as stacked BSI-CMOS technology and on-sensor phase detect autofocus, there’s an interesting section on Spatially Multiplexed Exposure (SME-HDR) which has the potential to provide improved HDR video capture. It’s an interesting read, and one worth taking a look at if you’re interested in sensor technology.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google adds auto image rotation, GIF creation to Photos app

13 Oct

Google has added four new features enhancing its Photos app for iOS and Android.

The first two features are similar in that they highlight photos related to specific people. A ‘Rediscover your memories’ feature will dig up old pictures of people who have appeared in more recent images. A ‘Recent highlights’ option will bring up a ‘card’ showing the best photos of a subject you’ve taken pictures of recently, such as a baby.

Perhaps a more useful feature is the ability to rotate images to the correct orientation, as illustrated above.

Finally, the Photos app can analyze videos you’ve taken to find ‘action’ and then turn it into an animated GIF.

Google blog via Droid Life

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google publishes gallery from upcoming Pixel smartphone

11 Oct

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_0409860841″,”galleryId”:”0409860841″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”standalone”:false,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”startInCommentsView”:false,”isMobile”:false}) });

Google’s camera product manager Issac Reynolds has posted the first gallery from the company’s upcoming Pixel smartphones, which received the highest DxOMark Mobile score to date. While we can’t be sure if any processing has been conducted, we think the results  look promising. You can view and download the originals on Reynolds’ Google Photos page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google Panoramio to shut down on November 4

11 Oct

Google will be shutting down Panoramio, its website for sharing photos of the world, on November 4. Now that Google Maps and Local Guides both have a photo-uploading feature, says Google, ‘we’ve decided to move forward with closing down Panoramio,’ something the company first announced plans for back in 2014. Many users were unhappy with the original announcement, and little has changed now that the shutdown is weeks away.

Panoramio was an early Web destination for photographers and travelers to share location-specific photos, enabling anyone to pull up a location on a world map and view any available images of it. That same feature is now available on Google Maps; in fact, Panoramio users who have shared content will Google Maps will still have their photos appear on the latter service after Panoramio shuts down.

Panoramio accounts linked to a Google account will automatically have their photographs uploaded to Google Album Archive at full resolution, the company says. In addition, Panoramio users will retain access to their account photos (within Panoramio) until November 2017, though new uploads and interactions with photos will be restricted. Google is encouraging Panoramio users to sign up under its Local Guides program.

Users who want to abandon Google entirely can export their Panoramio photos via Google Takeout if they have a Google account. The only exception are legacy Panoramio accounts; in this case, photos can be exported as a zip file via account settings > ‘Data Liberation’ > ‘Get photos’.

Via: CNET

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google launches Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones with gyroscope-based video stabilization

05 Oct

Google has just launched its 2016 smartphones. The Nexus moniker has gone and the new models are Pixel-branded, just like the company’s top-end Chromebooks and tablet. The Pixel and Pixel XL are made by HTC, though only the Google logo appears on the device, and pretty much only differ in terms of screen size and resolution as well battery capacity. The smaller Pixel sports a 5″ 1080p AMOLED display and a 2,770mAh battery, while the XL variant comes with a 5.5″ QHD-screen and a 3,450mAh battery. 

In the camera department the specifications have not changed much from last year’s Nexus devices. A 1/2.3″ 12MP sensor with 1.55µm pixel size is paired with an F2.0 aperture. There is no optical image stabilization but Google has added a new gyroscope-based video stabilization system that reads gyro data 200 times a second for smoother panning and shake-free handheld recording. The camera can record 4K video, and in stills mode Google’s excellent HDR+ mode is on by default, using an image stacking approach to reduce noise and capture better detail. In addition Pixel owners can store unlimited full-size images in Google’s cloud service.

Check out the photography-specific features of the Google Pixel from the announcement.

Both phones come with Google’s brand new Android 7.0 Nougat operating system and are powered by Qualcomm’s latest top-end chipset Snapdragon 821. 4GB of RAM can be combined with either 32 or 128 GB of local storage and a fingerprint reader on the back provides extra security. The Pixel phones will be available in Quite Black, Very Silver, and Really Blue color options. Pricing starts at $ 649 for the standard Pixel. In the US the devices will be exclusive to carrier Verizon, with pre-orders starting today. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google Pixel tops DxOMark’s Mobile rankings

05 Oct
Google Pixel’s HDR+ mode wows DxO in real-world use. Photo via DxOMark.

The Google Pixel smartphone has just been launched but DxO has already had a chance to put the new device’s camera through its paces – with impressive results. With a DxOMark score of 89 the Google Pixel features the best smartphone camera ever tested by the French company.

The DxO engineers found the new Google phone to perform well across all situations but were particularly impressed by the high levels of detail and relatively low noise levels across all light situations. Exposures were accurate, with very good contrast and white balance, as well as fast autofocus. The testers also liked the white balance performance and detail preservation when shooting with flash. Minor weaknesses included some inconsistency in repeated autofocus and artifacts in low-light shots. You can read the full report on DxOMark.com.

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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Google Photos for iOS improves Live Photos management

10 Sep

An update to the Google Photos app for iOS brings some of the features of the Motion Stills stand-alone app to Google’s main photo application. New functions allow for easier editing, sharing and stabilization of Apple’s animated Live Photos. Thanks to intelligent electronic stabilization algorithms Google Photos now lets you create animated images with moving subjects but frozen backgrounds, and sweeping pan shots. 

After editing Live Photos can now be converted into movie files and saved to the iPhone’s camera roll. This means with the update the files are shareable with Android phones and other devices which are not capable of processing Apples Live Photo format. Additionally, the improved version of the app includes some new photo organization functions. Images in albums can now be sorted chronologically and you can choose thumbnails for your friends’ faces in the People module. 

The update can now be downloaded and installed from the Apple App Store and should be available for the Android and Web versions of Google Photos soon. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google uses neural networks to improve image compression

27 Aug

A research team at Google has developed a way to use neural networks to compress image files in a more efficient way than current methods, such as the JPEG standard. The team built an artificial intelligence system using Google’s open source TensorFlow machine learning system, and then used 6 million random reference photos from the internet that had been compressed using conventional methods to train it.

The images were split into small pieces measuring 32 x 32 pixels each. The system then analyzed the 100 pieces with the least efficient compression; the idea being that it could learn from looking at the most complex areas of an image, making compression of less complex sections much easier.

After the initial training process the AI system is then able to predict how the image would look like after compression and then generates that image. What makes this method really stand out from others is that the network can intelligently decide which is the best way to compress individual areas of a given photo for the best overall result. The method still needs some work, as final results can sometimes look unpleasant to the human eye and the system are not yet capable of testing for this. Nevertheless, the project looks like an important step into the right direction and if the algorithms can be further refined you might soon be able to save even more images on your memory card or built-in device storage.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Google brings the National Parks to your living room with 360-virtual tours

26 Aug

In honor of the National Parks Centennial birthday celebration, Google has partnered with the National Parks Service to bring a unique and exciting virtual immersion experience to your fingertips. The Hidden Worlds of National Parks is a new exhibit that is part of Google’s larger Arts and Cultures Exhibit and Documentary series. In this new series, users will be able to visit and interact with some of the more obscure National Parks in the United States, such as the Dry Tortugas in Florida and the Kenai Fjords in Alaska through VR and 360 degree video tours. 

In the video experience a National Parks service ranger will guide you through one of the five park options. Users will be taken on unique guided tours such as a hike through the lava flows in Hawai’i, a kayaking trip through the Fjords in Alaska or a snorkeling trip through the coral reefs in the Dry Tortugas of Florida.  

The virtual tours are available online and in the Google Arts & Culture App which is available for both iOS and Android device platforms. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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