Recording mysterious creatures and the beauty of life is inseparable from the promotion of images by AI

Do you have the habit of looking through photo albums on your phone? 

If you arrange hundreds of photos and videos in chronological order, you will find that the quality of mobile phone photography and video recording has been improving year by year. The images recorded by mobile phone images are increasingly able to overlap with the moments you want to record, helping everyone to easily return to the past, to that moment that was touching, unexpected, or will never reappear. 

This is not magic, but the evolution brought about by the improvement of imaging technology behind each new phone. From the era of hundreds of megapixels to the current popularity of tens of millions of pixels and multi-camera modules, with the leap in hardware and the support of AI, mobile phones can already serve as qualified cameras in quite a few occasions. It is not an exaggeration to say that mobile phones are "professional cameras" in people's pockets. 

From people around you to the magnificent nature, your phone records everything

At the 2021 Qualcomm Technology and Collaboration Summit held on May 21-22, and the Snapdragon Night event specifically for Snapdragon fans, Qualcomm worked with its ecosystem partners to showcase its latest technological achievements in mobile communications, artificial intelligence, smart cockpits, wireless audio, the Internet of Things and other fields in the form of a technology expo. In the Snapdragon chip area closest to ordinary users, I saw the culmination of the evolution of imaging in mobile phones and smart terminals to date. 

Since the invention of photography technology nearly two hundred years ago, portrait photography has always been the most classic and popular subject. How to capture the emotions, manners and most vivid images of people has been the common pursuit of photographers of all generations. Mobile phones using the Snapdragon platform can now easily capture photos of people with clear scenes and real emotions, and can also capture the moments of vitality in high-speed sports such as dancing.

In addition to people imitating the human eye to capture images, image shooting is also pursuing those special but equally worth recording content. With the ultra-wide-angle lens and the AI ​​algorithms such as picture optimization and distortion correction of Snapdragon platform phones, mobile phones can take ultra-wide-frame group photos with natural look and feel; with the combined effect of microscopic lenses and super-resolution technology, everything that happens in the microscopic world can be recorded by the phone. 

Night scenes can be said to be the "crown" of imaging technology. Unlike the dim light during the day, it is difficult for all kinds of equipment to obtain real pictures, and countless engineers rack their brains. With the combined support of large-size sensors and AI imaging capabilities, Snapdragon platform phones can record the model's moving figure in the dark in just a few seconds, and the film processing is appropriate and convincing. 

In addition, Qualcomm Snapdragon also teamed up with National Geographic China to visit the world's largest tiankeng group, the Leye tiankeng group in Guangxi, and used Snapdragon phones to record rare natural wonders. In the "Tiankeng" documentary premiered at the Snapdragon Night, a series of top-level images that can be captured by mobile phones after the integration of imaging technologies are presented. From the plant and animal ecology of the dense forest at the bottom of the tiankeng to the creatures living in the darkness of the underground cave, the karst landform documentary that originally required huge professional imaging equipment to accurately capture can now be completed with a mobile phone equipped with a Snapdragon 888 chip.

A year ago, the video work "Snow Mountain Cute Monkeys" shot by the photographer of "National Geographic China" with a Snapdragon 5G mobile phone has surprised the photographer with the evolution of mobile phone imaging capabilities. This year, the photographer has turned to challenge more complex and lower-brightness extreme scenes, and the performance is still satisfactory. The "impossible" in the eyes of professional photographers has become a reality through the improvement of technologies such as Snapdragon platform AI imaging. This is another manifestation of Qualcomm's continued use of scientific and technological power to convey the power of life. 

Where do these wonderful visual delicacies come from?

The ability of mobile phones to record such extraordinary images comes from improvements in many different technical aspects: 

1. Image module quality: Image is a science of capturing light, so traditional image manufacturers have been committed to studying how to improve the performance of image hardware. Now mobile phone manufacturers and the entire industry have also joined the team. High pixels, large bottom, multi-P lens, zoom structure, coated lens... Hardware progress has increased the amount of light that can be converted into electrical signals, making it more likely to capture more realistic and beautiful pictures. 

2. Platform processing performance After capturing more and more realistic image information, the next step is processing, which will affect the speed and experience of completing the shooting, and will also determine the final image quality. Mobile platforms are all pursuing stronger processing performance. As a leader, the Spectra 580 ISP equipped with the new Snapdragon 888 flagship mobile platform has a processing speed of 2.7 billion pixels per second, a 35% increase over the previous generation, making it easy to capture ultra-high-definition photos or high-frame rate images. 

Snapdragon 888 also has a new feature, supporting three ISPs, which means that three cameras can be called to work simultaneously and in HDR. As a result, users can get a smoother focal length switching experience, and can also take multiple pictures of different frames at a time, which is convenient for post-processing or selection. After the shutter is pressed, users have more choices. 

3. Computational photography concept and AI imaging technology Computational photography powered by AI is as important as the sum of the above two items. Just like preparing the raw materials and kitchen utensils for cooking, the chef will ultimately decide the color, aroma and taste of the dish, and AI imaging is the "chef" who can restore the reality and surpass the possibility of reality. 

Taking Snapdragon 888 as an example, its sixth-generation Qualcomm AI engine includes the new Hexagon 780 processor, with a computing power of 26 TOPS. In addition to the computing power itself, AI algorithms have also made great progress. The tenth-generation 3A algorithm used by Spectra 580 is powered by AI for the first time, supporting autofocus, auto exposure, and auto white balance to help achieve extreme clarity, dynamic range, and color. In addition, combined with the latest AI engine, Spectra 580 can also shoot in low-light environments as low as 0.1Lux. Press the shutter, and the phone can complete all shooting work driven by AI. 

While AI imaging is properly calculated, Qualcomm has also teamed up with partners to prepare a "recipe" for devices to improve the comprehensive imaging experience, such as ArcSoft's multi-camera seamless and smooth zoom, Tetras.AI's ultra-clear preview, etc. In addition, the new Qualcomm AI Engine Direct allows developers to directly access the underlying hardware such as CPU, GPU, DSP, etc. through this unified program interface, bringing new features to developers so that they can create innovative AI imaging use cases on the Snapdragon platform faster. 

Through the Snapdragon 888 flagship mobile platform, mobile phone manufacturers can easily obtain a good AI imaging foundation, and combined with their own understanding and investment in imaging, they can improve the actual performance. As a result, we have seen breakthroughs such as Xiaomi 11 Ultra's Night Owl Night Scene, AI Portrait and Magic Sky Change, OPPO Find X3's AI Scene Color Function and AI Video Enhancement Function, and vivo X60 Pro+'s Extreme Dark Light Shooting. 

AI reshapes mobile imaging

You may have realized that whether it is recording every bit of life, capturing moments you don't want to miss, or capturing important images for individuals or groups, AI is indispensable. Why is AI the top priority in the evolution of imaging today when the "stacked" hardware of mobile phones is no longer news? 

1. AI makes images more realistic and objective If you ask the most experienced professional photographers what is an excellent image, the words "objective" and "real" will definitely appear in the answer, which is also the original purpose of the birth of imaging technology. Objectivity and reality are certainly important, but the hardware limit of imaging always exists under the size limit of mobile phones, so it is inevitable that there will be details of the picture that cannot be captured and cannot be truly restored, which is different from professional equipment. 

With AI imaging technology, with the help of various capabilities that absorb the essence of the best imaging works, mobile phone photos and videos can easily achieve more original and realistic images. For example, the richness of colors, clarity of details, and lens distortion, which are related to the intuitive perception of the human eye, will be improved with the help of various AI imaging technologies, surpassing the facts while respecting the truth. 

2. AI brings more possibilities to creation. Image creation originally has a threshold. It requires systematic knowledge to balance a series of relationships such as light, scene, people, and picture to take good photos and videos. The high level of professionalism has even led to the birth of the profession of photographer. Now, with the great improvement of the imaging capabilities of personal terminals such as mobile phones, although the profession of photographer will not be replaced, everyone can take professional and beautiful works.