"I was flicking through a photo album at my grandma's when I came across a picture of my mum as a child. I took a photo and sent it to her, but on my phone screen, it looked brighter and more vivid than the physical version in my hand. Adding an Instagram filter is something I would now only do ironically. But is my phone increasing the contrast or making other tweaks without my knowledge?"
"To find out, I downloaded an app with a zero-processing feature that claimed to take photos without any software alterations. When comparing the photos my camera takes automatically to the photos taken with this app, the results were shocking. The so-called raw photos that lack processing had subtle, muted colours, softer edges a little grainy while the processed photos were gorgeous and crisp like the inside of a marble."
"The answer to this, like everything else these days, is machine learning, used by virtually every major smartphone-maker to enhance the photos taken with their cameras. Professional photographers have been aware of it for years, as you can readily see on Reddit, YouTube or Facebook. On Aurora-Hunters UK, enthusiasts accuse one another of cheating by using phone cameras that automatically brighten the picture."
Photographs taken on smartphones are routinely altered by built-in processing that applies machine-learning enhancements like increased contrast, saturation, sharpening and noise reduction. Raw, unprocessed captures show muted colours, softer edges and more grain, while processed images appear brighter, crisper and more vivid. These automatic adjustments can change how people perceive memories and images used for communication, advertising and social interaction. Many users are unaware that device manufacturers and software decide visual presentation on their behalf. The prevalence of automated photo enhancement has prompted debate among photographers and hobbyists about authenticity and fairness.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]