[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #618: Beautygate, Bokeh, and Background Blur -- the future of photography

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OPLIN 4Cast #618: Beautygate, Bokeh, and Background Blur -- the future of
photography
October 31st, 2018

[image: Smiling lovely active asian girl taking selfie photo.] Owners of
the new iPhone XS noticed that their selfies were looking "too good," like
they'd been air-brushed, their skin make-up-smooth. Users assumed that a
software filter was automatically being applied when they used the
front-facing camera on their phones, and the phenomenon was quickly dubbed
#beautygate. It turns out that it was a bug, not a feature. For each snap,
the camera was shooting several frames, and the software was basing the
final image on a frame with less fine detail.

At least iPhone users are *getting* their photos: lately my phone had been
deciding it didn't want to save my pictures at all. It turns out that I was
just going too fast; I need to wait patiently for the software to stop
processing the picture before putting my phone away.

These unrelated bugs have a common cause: the *high dynamic range* (HDR)
processing of digital images. As Devin Coldewey writes
<https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/22/the-future-of-photography-is-code/> in
the first article linked below, there's a limit to what the microscopic
sensors on our phones can take in, and the real battleground in photography
is the software. To get that sweet *bokeh* (background blur and more
<https://photographylife.com/what-is-bokeh>) without a big lens and
delicate aperture controls, we're going to have to rely on innovations
based in the code.

   -
   - The future of photography is code
   <https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/22/the-future-of-photography-is-code/> [
   *TechCrunch*] "Cameras can’t get *too* much better than they are right
   now, or at least not without some rather extreme shifts in how they work."
   - Google is rolling out a software update soon to fix the Pixel 3
   photo-saving issue
   <https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/23/18013606/google-pixel-3-xl-photo-saving-bug-software-update>
   (*The Verge*) "Until Google rolls out the fix, users can work around the
   issue by leaving the camera app open until HDR processing completes or
   turning off the HDR function completely."
   - Apple says glossy iPhone XS selfies were a bug, promises a fix in iOS
   12.1
   <https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/10/apple-says-glossy-iphone-xs-selfies-were-a-bug-promises-a-fix-in-ios-12-1/>
   [*Ars Technica*] "Using powerful image processors and machine learning
   is a trend in today's phones for a reason—it's an extremely promising way
   to make up for the limitations inherent in phone cameras' optics. But it
   does have the downside of taking some control away from the user."
   - At long last, pet portraits with background blur are possible on the
   iPhone XR
   <https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/29/at-long-last-pet-portraits-with-background-blur-are-possible-on-the-iphone-xr/>
   [*TechCrunch*] "The problem was that Apple’s machine learning systems
   are only trained to recognize and create high-quality depth maps of people.
   Not dogs, cats, plants or toy robots. People would be frustrated if the
   artificial background blur inexplicably got way worse when it was pointed
   at something that wasn’t a person, so the effect just doesn’t trigger
   unless someone’s in the shot."

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Long, Ben. "HDR Photography: Shooting and Processing
   <https://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-CS4-tutorials/Shooting-and-Processing-High-Dynamic-Range-Photographs-HDR/83840-2.html?srchtrk=index%3a1%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3ahdr+photography%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2>
   ." *Lynda.com*, July 2011.
   - Scoblete, Greg. “GET SMART: 9 Tools to Boost Your Mobile Photography.
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=99625172&site=ehost-live>
   ” *Photo District News*, vol. 35, no. 1, Jan. 2015, p. 78.
   - Bansal, Agam, et al. “Selfies: A Boon or Bane?
   <https://proxy.oplin.org:2111/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=131704032&site=ehost-live>
   ” *Journal of Family Medicine & Primary Care*, vol. 7, no. 4, July 2018,
   pp. 828–831.

------------------------------
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