For almost a decennium , we ’ve lived in an incredible era of smartphones . Phones do considerably more than they did eight year ago when the original iPhone launch , and nowhere is this more apparent than in smartphone cameras .
From single camera — and occasionally double — in the pre - smartphone era , we ’ve now descended into an era where three and four cameras are commonplace on smartphones . Instead of being focused on a topic immediately in front of you , the best smartphone camera now allow you to zoom in or out , take incredible portraiture pic , and record mellow - quality professional TV .
The years - old saw that the best camera is the one you have with you at that minute may not have always applied in the past , but the current craw of best smartphone cameras has led to the greatest era of smartphone photography .
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However , have you ever wonder how we get here ? How is your smartphone camera tested , and what ’s led to the incredible photos that you could take with your telephone set ? I flew to China to find out out , and here ’s what I pick up !
Meet the Oppo Imaging Lab in Binhai Bay
As part of my recent trip-up to China for the Oppo Find X8 Ultra launching , Oppo flew us from Xi’an to Shenzhen on the concluding day , allow us to visit the company ’s fresh Binhai Bay campus . It ’s a vast building that is n’t even complete yet , but the company has already begun moving certain portion of the company into the edifice .
Located just under an hour from the Bao’an dominion near Shenzhen airport , one of these portion is the Oppo Imaging Lab , where the company is to a great extent focused on examine the next generation of its smartphone cameras .
Over the past two years , Oppo and its baby caller , OnePlus , have put out some of the estimable all - around smartphone camera . The Oppo Find X8 professional , released last October , can take fantabulous photos even at 60x zoom , while the OnePlus 13 play many of the same capability to the US market .
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Most latterly , the Find X8 Ultra has prove it can capture fantastical pic at every focal length , with a particular enduringness in taking HDR and portrait photos . The latter is outstanding , with the phone capable of take film with fantastic bokeh at every focal length , and the fastest autofocus I ’ve used on a phone .
Our sojourn to Oppo ’s new headquarters campus provided a behind - the - scenes look at four psychometric test the company uses to uprise and try its smartphone camera . As it was a very unforesightful sojourn , we concentre on how it do for pic captured with the rearward cameras . However , the company did mention that it uses interchangeable testing method acting for video , Zoom , and even the front - facing camera .
Industry standard testing and carrier-standard testing
The first test utilize diligence - standard testing charts and a faint box to valuate the tv camera ’s performance under various lighting term . Crucially , using a circle of standardized testing chart that can be cycled through electronically , meaning it ’s much easier to compare resolution against the contest .
I ’ve antecedently used like testing charts to test cameras objectively , and they are particularly effective in providing a quantifiable metric that reserve for verbatim comparing of the results . However , they do n’t cater to variation in lineament such as skin timber or more advanced feature within a television camera .
Of course , while companies prove against industry - received tests , they must also control that smartphone cameras comply with carrier examination standards .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Many carriers globally have stringent testing standards that often surpass the requisite spotlight in objective testing , such as these system of measurement . For this , Oppo use a serial publication of charts and tests organise by T - Mobile . These trial are very like to industry - received tests , but they have insidious deviation in the prosody used to determine whether a mental testing is passed or failed .
Testing HDR performance at different lights and lengths
It ’s only in the past few years that we ’ve come to expect excellent mellow active range ( HDR ) operation from smartphone cameras . Smartphone cameras can now duplicate — and often surpass — the high active range ( HDR ) effects that some cameras achieve . With standards such as HDR10 , HDR10 + , HDR Vivid , and Ultra HDR to adjust to , a significant amount of examination is required to meet these measure .
Oppo ’s answer is a series of tests that run automatically and take seven hour per lens . That means for the uncovering X8 Ultra , it aim 28 60 minutes of examination to prove HDR operation on the rearward photographic camera , which is no mean feat . However , as I afterward discovered , the actual routine of testing minute is considerably high-pitched .
The HDR testing laboratory feature machine-driven cut with a smartphone gimbal rig that can move back and forth to dissimilar focal lengths as part of the test suite . There ’s a variety of other charts captured , many of which feature subtly different dark glasses of greyish , whitened , and black . There are also some colored charts .
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Under the supervising of a human operator , this trial ensures that your phone can accurately gather the dissimilar HDR standards . It also ensures that it can accurately reflect dissimilar shades of gray , white , and black , which was antecedently a pregnant challenge for smartphone television camera .
Testing for great portraits and skin tones
One of the largest challenges for any smartphone camera is how to handle a variety of skin tones , particularly when one or more of these is present in the same photo .
The breakthrough X8 Ultra features a true chroma sensing element that can observe up to 40 different color temperature in a individual scene . However , Oppo also deport extensive examination in its lab to ensure that the even camera lens can accurately identify unlike skin pure tone and shade .
It achieves this in two testing labs that assume capturing portrait modes of unlike people with various cutis tones in various environments . feature another solidifying of tracks , the mental test research lab feature multiple portrait head teacher and a serial publication of simulated environments for examination .
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The testing wheel change both the top dog and their positions relative to the smartphone tv camera , as well as the surrounding environment , and the colors , white Libra , and tone . The goal is to replicate as many dissimilar and challenging scenarios as possible , and see how the smartphone television camera at last react to these .
There’s much more to it, but it’s certainly working
It was fascinating to see this first - hand , because if one matter is clear , it ’s that Oppo ’s recent smartphone cameras prove its approach to examination is working . In a separate Q&A , the society also revealed that this is just a small part of what goes into building and testing its smartphone cameras .
First , the testing issue will inevitably lead to subtle tweaks to the processing algorithmic program . This then needs further testing , so the 28 60 minutes of HDR testing could quickly double or more in full testing hour , just for that feature film .
Similarly , there are legion other advanced camera features that require testing individually . While many of these are tested in alike research laboratory to this one , our limited clock time allow us to rivet only on these specific test labs and feature . However , Oppo did confirm that it has many more testing labs interchangeable to this one , with each typeset up in slightly unlike ways to test other features , such as recording video , using the front - facing camera , or even the autofocus f number .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
The improbably interesting part ? This approach to examination is work . Alongside research lab testing , legion additional hour are spent manually testing the execution of a smartphone photographic camera against its chief competitors , whether from Oppo or a rival phone maker .
After thousands of full examination hours , exposure like the ones above prove that this approach is effective : theFind X8 Pro , Find X8 Ultra , OnePlus 13 , and even the new Find X8s series all feature phenomenal smartphone cameras that go past the contender in many manner .
In especial , the discovery X8 Ultra ranks top in many class , at least base on my testing over the preceding few weeks . I look forrad to seeing how Oppo ’s cameras continue to evolve and explore more of these research laboratory during a next sojourn to China .
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
Nirave Gondhia / Digital Trends
