Google is bringing Ultra HDR capture support to more third-party apps
 

• Google is updating the Jetpack CameraX library to support capturing Ultra HDR images.
• Ultra HDR is a new image format introduced in Android 14 that enables saving the SDR and HDR version of an image in the same file.
• Currently only camera apps that use the Android Camera2 API can capture Ultra HDR images.

One of the most exciting recent advancements in smartphone photography is true HDR support. The camera HDR processing that youre probably already familiar with basically uses computational photography and image stacking to achieve an HDR-like effect, but the resulting image is still SDR. Starting with Android 14, though, several Android phones are now capable of capturing true HDR photos using a format called Ultra HDR. However, many third-party apps with built-in camera functionality cant capture photos in Ultra HDR, but thats set to change soon.

Ultra HDR, if you arent familiar, is a Google-made image format thats based on the popular JPEG format. Because its based on JPEG, Ultra HDR images can be viewed on almost any device, regardless of whether or not they have an HDR display. What makes Ultra HDR images special, though, is that when theyre viewed on a device with an HDR display, the HDR version of the image is shown, offering more vibrant and contrasty colors.




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