The Effect of Smart HDR: A Technical Explanation

There are two main reasons why the new effect in smart HDR is more pronounced, and they are both related to the technology behind it. The first reason is that the camera is constantly shooting a four-frame buffer, which means it captures multiple photos simultaneously without actually saving them. This allows for instant review and faster processing of images. However, this also requires the shutter speed to be faster to compensate for less light entering the sensor.

This increase in shutter speed results in higher ISO levels, which digitally brighten the image but also introduce noise. To counteract this, Apple adds noise reduction processing to the images, which can lead to a loss of detail and sharpness, particularly in areas with soft skin tones. The front-facing camera is more susceptible to this effect due to its smaller sensor size, allowing even less light to enter.

Further research has shown that the new iPhone appears to favor fast shutter speeds and higher ISO levels regardless of whether the smart HDR feature is on or off. This means that Apple isn't applying a "beauty filter" to smooth out areas; rather, it's due to the added noise reduction processing. When comparing low-light photos from the 10s Max to those taken with the Galaxy Note 9, it becomes clear that both devices apply noise reduction, leading to similar beauty mode effects.

The Second Reason: Contrast and Dynamic Range

One of the key reasons why the new effect in smart HDR is more pronounced is because of the increased contrast. When merging multiple images together, the photo becomes more balanced and there's an overall decrease in contrast throughout the whole image. This results in a sharper-looking photo, but not necessarily due to actual sharpening; rather, it's because of added contrast.

In reality, the lack of contrast can make the skin tone appear softer or "skinned" even when taken in well-lit environments. This is particularly noticeable in low-light conditions where the camera needs to compensate for less light by increasing the ISO. The resulting image may look sharper due to increased contrast, but it's actually a result of added noise reduction processing.

Technical Limitations: Beauty Gate

From a technical standpoint, Apple would need to tweak the software to resolve the issue if they choose to make smart HDR work slower and allow the shutter to stay open longer. However, this would reduce the dynamic range performance on the 10s Max's new cameras. The current implementation of beauty gate is a trade-off between improved dynamic range and reduced noise, resulting in a softer-looking image.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the effect of smart HDR is more pronounced due to the increased shutter speed and ISO levels required for faster processing. This results in higher contrast images that may appear sharper but are actually a result of added contrast and noise reduction processing. Understanding these technical limitations can help appreciate the nuances behind Apple's implementation of beauty gate.

The Beauty Gate Puzzle

Now that we've gone through the first half of the puzzle, let's take a closer look at the second part – why it seems like the iPhone tends to photo is sharper but isn't actually. The answer lies in contrast and dynamic range. Contrast refers to the difference in brightness between objects in a photo.

In reality, the bottom half of the image on the 10s Max doesn't appear sharper; it's simply that the iPhone has added more contrast, making it look more detailed. When comparing the photos taken with the 10s Max and the Galaxy Note 9, we notice that both devices apply noise reduction, but the difference in contrast makes the 10s Max photo seem softer.

Adding Contrast: The Key to Beauty Gate

The key to beauty gate lies not in sharpening the image, but rather adding contrast. This results in a more balanced look, with less contrast throughout the whole image. However, this added contrast can also lead to the perception of softer skin tones, particularly when taken in well-lit environments.

Understanding the Role of Noise Reduction

Noise reduction is a crucial aspect of beauty gate, as it plays a significant role in reducing the appearance of noise and improving the overall image quality. When applying noise reduction processing, Apple aims to reduce the visibility of noise while maintaining the sharpness and clarity of the image.

However, excessive noise reduction can lead to a loss of detail and softening of skin tones. This is particularly noticeable in low-light conditions where the camera needs to compensate for less light by increasing the ISO. The resulting image may appear sharper due to increased contrast, but it's actually a result of added noise reduction processing.

A Comparative Analysis: iPhone 10s vs Galaxy Note 9

When comparing low-light photos taken with the 10s Max and the Galaxy Note 9, we notice that both devices apply noise reduction. However, the difference in contrast makes the 10s Max photo seem softer.

In reality, the 10s Max lacks contrast compared to the Galaxy Note 9, resulting in an image that appears less sharp but is actually just as detailed. This highlights the importance of understanding the role of noise reduction and added contrast in beauty gate.

The Beauty Gate Puzzle: A Technical Solution

From a technical standpoint, Apple would need to tweak the software to resolve the issue if they choose to make smart HDR work slower and allow the shutter to stay open longer. However, this would reduce the dynamic range performance on the 10s Max's new cameras.

The current implementation of beauty gate is a trade-off between improved dynamic range and reduced noise, resulting in a softer-looking image. By understanding these technical limitations, we can appreciate the nuances behind Apple's implementation of beauty gate.

Beauty Gate: A Beauty Standard

Ultimately, the goal of beauty gate is to create an idealized look that enhances the subject without over-processing or distorting their appearance. While the current implementation may have its flaws, it has become a beauty standard in the smartphone industry.

As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see improvements and refinements to beauty gate. However, for now, understanding the technical limitations behind this feature will help us appreciate the art of smartphone photography.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou may have heard some talk about Beauty gate where Apple's new iPhone 10s and 10's Mac seem to be applying a skin smoothing filter to photos taken with the selfie camera now that's not the truth so let's talk about what's actually happening behind the Saints it's all due to the new smart HDR feature in Apple's new iPhones which is designed to increase dynamic range as you can see in this photo from our iPhone 10 vs 10 s Mac's photo comparison the face and body are properly exposed but on the TENS image the highlights and the background are blown out on the 10s max you can see all the details and textures and the colors are accurately reproduced not only that but if you look at the shadows they appear brighter and you get more detail as well now here's where it gets interesting if you compare the pants on each image it looks like there's a smoothing effect being applied on the 10s Macs and if you look at a selfie photo taken in low-light the effect is even more pronounced now there's two main reasons why this is happening and they're both related to smart HDR with a regular HDR photo on last year's iPhone 10 the camera will snap three photos one exposed for the face one for the highlights and one for the shadows and then blend the best parts of each image into one photo professional photographers sometimes take these photos manually before blending them in a program like Adobe Lightroom resulting in a photo with incredible detail and dynamic range with Apple's new smart HDR it all starts with something Apple calls zero shutter lag whenever your camera app is open the camera is constantly shooting a four frame buffer basically for photos over and over again without actually saving them so that when you do take a photo you get one instantly and at the same time the camera is also capturing a variety of frames at different exposures it then analyzes and merges the best rings together into one photo which you've gotta admit has seriously great dynamic range in order to make this work all this has to happen very quickly and you can thank the new front-facing and rear-facing sensors for this the new sensors have increased readout speed allowing it to snap photos quicker however there's another limitation shutter speed which is basically the amount of time the camera shutters open to allow light into the sensor now since smart HDR requires everything to happen very quickly the shutter speed needs to be faster so as not to slow down the process because of that less light has a chance to get into the sensor and to compensate the camera increases the ISO which digitally brightens the image but that also increases noise in bright sunlight we won't notice much of a difference since the image may already be perfectly exposed even with faster shutter speed but in a low-light scenario the ISO needs to be turned up pretty high which introduces a lot of noise and to compensate for that Apple adds noise reduction processing to the images and the most common drawback to noise reduction is that the details start to lose their sharpness and look soft basically what people are calling skin smoothing and the reason the effect is more noticeable on the front-facing camera is because the sensor is a lot smaller than the one on the rear so even less light has a chance to get in sebastien d width the developer of the camera app halide discovered that the new iPhone appears to favor fast shutter speeds and higher ISO levels regardless of whether the smart HDR feature is on or off so no Apple isn't applying a beauty filter the smooth out areas are mostly due to added noise reduction if we compare a low-light photo from the 10s max to something like the galaxy note 9 we'll see that the node 9 is applying noise reduction as well leading to a similar beauty mode effect so there's half of the Beauty gate puzzle now let's go through the second half which is responsible for making this effect look even more pronounced because smart HDR is taking more frames at different exposures and combining them it's able to have more high light and low light detail than ever before however when merging these images together the photo becomes more balanced and there is an overall decrease in contrast throughout the whole image looking at these photos it seems as though the iPhone tends photo is sharper but if you look closely it's actually not the reason the photo looks sharper is because it has more contrast now contrast is basically the difference in brightness between objects in a photo in this example the bottom half isn't any sharper it just has added contrast we noticed this effect when comparing the tennis max to the note 9 the photos and video on the tennis max lacked contrast and looked less sharp compared to the note 9 but in reality it was just as detailed looking at the selfie photo comparison you'll notice that the iPhone tends image has more contrast making it look more detailed the iPhone tennis Max's lack of contrast makes it look like there's some kind of ski smoothing effect being applied but if we add some contrast back in that effect goes away so it's actually the lack of contrast that makes it seem like the skin is softer even when in a well-lit environment so there you have it that's beauty gate in a nutshell technically Apple would just need to tweak the software to resolve the issue if they choose to ask for some more HDR ALPA can tune the feature to make it work slower and allow the shutter to stay open a bit longer but of course that'll reduce the dynamic range performance on the 10s and 10's Max's new cameras so thanks for watching guys let me know what you thought about that explanation in the comment section below and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on more videos like this one if you enjoy this video like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next videoyou may have heard some talk about Beauty gate where Apple's new iPhone 10s and 10's Mac seem to be applying a skin smoothing filter to photos taken with the selfie camera now that's not the truth so let's talk about what's actually happening behind the Saints it's all due to the new smart HDR feature in Apple's new iPhones which is designed to increase dynamic range as you can see in this photo from our iPhone 10 vs 10 s Mac's photo comparison the face and body are properly exposed but on the TENS image the highlights and the background are blown out on the 10s max you can see all the details and textures and the colors are accurately reproduced not only that but if you look at the shadows they appear brighter and you get more detail as well now here's where it gets interesting if you compare the pants on each image it looks like there's a smoothing effect being applied on the 10s Macs and if you look at a selfie photo taken in low-light the effect is even more pronounced now there's two main reasons why this is happening and they're both related to smart HDR with a regular HDR photo on last year's iPhone 10 the camera will snap three photos one exposed for the face one for the highlights and one for the shadows and then blend the best parts of each image into one photo professional photographers sometimes take these photos manually before blending them in a program like Adobe Lightroom resulting in a photo with incredible detail and dynamic range with Apple's new smart HDR it all starts with something Apple calls zero shutter lag whenever your camera app is open the camera is constantly shooting a four frame buffer basically for photos over and over again without actually saving them so that when you do take a photo you get one instantly and at the same time the camera is also capturing a variety of frames at different exposures it then analyzes and merges the best rings together into one photo which you've gotta admit has seriously great dynamic range in order to make this work all this has to happen very quickly and you can thank the new front-facing and rear-facing sensors for this the new sensors have increased readout speed allowing it to snap photos quicker however there's another limitation shutter speed which is basically the amount of time the camera shutters open to allow light into the sensor now since smart HDR requires everything to happen very quickly the shutter speed needs to be faster so as not to slow down the process because of that less light has a chance to get into the sensor and to compensate the camera increases the ISO which digitally brightens the image but that also increases noise in bright sunlight we won't notice much of a difference since the image may already be perfectly exposed even with faster shutter speed but in a low-light scenario the ISO needs to be turned up pretty high which introduces a lot of noise and to compensate for that Apple adds noise reduction processing to the images and the most common drawback to noise reduction is that the details start to lose their sharpness and look soft basically what people are calling skin smoothing and the reason the effect is more noticeable on the front-facing camera is because the sensor is a lot smaller than the one on the rear so even less light has a chance to get in sebastien d width the developer of the camera app halide discovered that the new iPhone appears to favor fast shutter speeds and higher ISO levels regardless of whether the smart HDR feature is on or off so no Apple isn't applying a beauty filter the smooth out areas are mostly due to added noise reduction if we compare a low-light photo from the 10s max to something like the galaxy note 9 we'll see that the node 9 is applying noise reduction as well leading to a similar beauty mode effect so there's half of the Beauty gate puzzle now let's go through the second half which is responsible for making this effect look even more pronounced because smart HDR is taking more frames at different exposures and combining them it's able to have more high light and low light detail than ever before however when merging these images together the photo becomes more balanced and there is an overall decrease in contrast throughout the whole image looking at these photos it seems as though the iPhone tends photo is sharper but if you look closely it's actually not the reason the photo looks sharper is because it has more contrast now contrast is basically the difference in brightness between objects in a photo in this example the bottom half isn't any sharper it just has added contrast we noticed this effect when comparing the tennis max to the note 9 the photos and video on the tennis max lacked contrast and looked less sharp compared to the note 9 but in reality it was just as detailed looking at the selfie photo comparison you'll notice that the iPhone tends image has more contrast making it look more detailed the iPhone tennis Max's lack of contrast makes it look like there's some kind of ski smoothing effect being applied but if we add some contrast back in that effect goes away so it's actually the lack of contrast that makes it seem like the skin is softer even when in a well-lit environment so there you have it that's beauty gate in a nutshell technically Apple would just need to tweak the software to resolve the issue if they choose to ask for some more HDR ALPA can tune the feature to make it work slower and allow the shutter to stay open a bit longer but of course that'll reduce the dynamic range performance on the 10s and 10's Max's new cameras so thanks for watching guys let me know what you thought about that explanation in the comment section below and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on more videos like this one if you enjoy this video like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next video\n"