Science & Technology

The Evolution of Smartphone Night Photography | WIRED

Taking photos at night on your phone used to look terrible, but recent phones have much improved capabilities. Julian Chokkattu, reviews editor at WIRED, explains how smartphone camera technology has gotten so much better. Ramesh Raskar, MIT MIT Camera Culture Group Ubicept Nighttime image fusion Raskar, Ramesh, Adrian Ilie, and Jingyi Yu. “Image fusion for…

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Taking photos at night on your phone used to look terrible, but recent phones have much improved capabilities. Julian Chokkattu, reviews editor at WIRED, explains how smartphone camera technology has gotten so much better.

Ramesh Raskar, MIT

MIT Camera Culture Group

Ubicept

Nighttime image fusion

Raskar, Ramesh, Adrian Ilie, and Jingyi Yu. “Image fusion for context enhancement and video surrealism.” NPAR2004

Multi spectral imaging

Mohan, Ankit, Ramesh Raskar, and Jack Tumblin. “Agile spectrum imaging: Programmable wavelength modulation for cameras and projectors.” Eurographics 2008

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75 Comments

  1. Jarek Nowak

    March 25, 2022 at 4:53 pm

    Can i get an app, for older phone, which will make my photos better?

  2. Travis Niec

    March 25, 2022 at 4:56 pm

    Part of me wants to decry all the image processing and compositing as so much digital fakery… on the other hand, I can’t help but wonder if it yields something that is actually more representative of how our brains remember a scene than a single static image of one instant in time at a fixed aperture/focus/shutter speed does… the human brain is a pretty great integrator, after all.

  3. Jarek Nowak

    March 25, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    Einstein was right.
    Reality is subjective.

  4. nat bw

    March 25, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Don’t care, like the iphone3g’s one more

  5. HarvardBob

    March 25, 2022 at 5:07 pm

    While I love what the technology can do to enhance photographs I have reservations on the influence machine algorithms processing have on what we “see”. Photographs were originally considered objective incontrovertible records of reality. Gradually we learned that images can be manipulated, first crudely by analog means, and increasingly with greater sophistication by digital. By going beyond what we are physically capable of discerning, we increasingly add subjective interpretation. In this case the subjectivity of the programmer/algorithm. This is fine as long as we understand it is a “hallucination” as the MIT professor stated. I think for most people however they will accept it as a new reality. This is where the danger may lie. Would we accept an augmented and highly processed night vision photograph as legal evidence? Will our real but limited visual perception be considered inferior to this new augmented reality? The augmented view, subject to subtle biases, adds to our already warped perception of reality. I think each photo should have a pop-up disclaimer: “For entertainment purposes only”. Not to used as legal evidence. May cause disorientation. Some people may experience this as a hallucination.”

  6. Jarek Nowak

    March 25, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    Now reality is deep-fake.

  7. Reece Rogers

    March 25, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    Love watching these

  8. Krishit Patoliya

    March 25, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    Again a Ramesh 🤣🤣

  9. Marty D

    March 25, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    peeps still be taking bad photos 😭

  10. radry100

    March 25, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    Stop photo cheating now!

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    March 25, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    Weird is one of thee best channels here on youtube 😭, love them keep up with the inspiration for youtubers like me

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    March 25, 2022 at 7:28 pm

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  13. Allen Payne

    March 25, 2022 at 7:48 pm

    4:11 – Smartphones getting more and more KI and producing “wrong” images. But I am happy Arri did not change his color science over the years :)))

  14. Janice 𝔽**СК МЕ - СНЕℂ𝕂 𝕄𝕐 Рℝ𝟘𝔽𝕀𝕃Е💛

    March 25, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    Y’all she makes my day better and it’s also my birthday

  15. Rar Jungle

    March 25, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    Need to discuss the technological advances with HDR photography in smartphones, that was a significant development, perhaps much more than machine learning and algorithms.

  16. Chris Friends

    March 25, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    Sony makes Apple’s cameras.

  17. ParkKookliet JeonJimeo

    March 25, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    iPhones have really bad cameras since always
    Samsung is much better when it comes to cameras and so is Huawei

  18. Vergie🔥 F-'ck M'-e - Check my P'ro'fi-le 🔥

    March 25, 2022 at 10:39 pm

    Other than that, small sensors have gotten a lot more sensitive, and companies are putting faster lenses on phones. On top of that the photo app has gone full skynet in terms of computational photography.

  19. Darth Windu

    March 25, 2022 at 11:06 pm

    idk, maybe cause technology can advance???

  20. M

    March 25, 2022 at 11:10 pm

    I’m bored here. Watching about why cameras on phones are so great today. 😭

  21. Ibnuz Zaki

    March 25, 2022 at 11:17 pm

    I use a Pixel, and Google Camera is great in its AI game, but man does it ever feel like you’re not in control of you own device. Even then, it’s hardly ever consistent; when it’s good, it’s great, but otherwise it’s like nvm.

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      March 25, 2022 at 11:17 pm

      Hit me up 📩🚀🚀👆

  22. Justa Youtuber

    March 25, 2022 at 11:46 pm

    No mention of Samsung? What a bunch of Apple sheeple.

  23. Daniel

    March 26, 2022 at 12:15 am

    I appreciate my cameras ability to take photos closer to what my eyes see. But I disagree with dude, I do not want my camera to turn a foggy day into a sunny day so I can show off my perfect beautiful life…I mean vacation

  24. El Niño

    March 26, 2022 at 12:55 am

    Funny part is- iPhone is not even good in taking night photo’s. 😹

  25. Justin

    March 26, 2022 at 1:50 am

    We are so lucky that the quality of the photos people take and never look at again have become so good.

  26. Jnelle Trim

    March 26, 2022 at 1:55 am

    Remember God loves you♥️.
    John 3:16
    For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
    If you trust in Jesus Christ and repent, you will be saved🙏🙏.
    He is coming back soon

  27. Jay White

    March 26, 2022 at 7:00 am

    I’ve got iPhone 13 Pro max and nighttime photos are absolutely amazing 🤩

  28. LISSA-💖 𝐹**СК МЕ - СНЕ𝒞𝒦 𝑀𝒴 Р𝑅𝟢𝐹𝐼𝐿Е

    March 26, 2022 at 7:06 am

    We are so lucky that the quality of the photos people take and never look at again have become so good.

  29. Jess Cuz

    March 26, 2022 at 7:08 am

    Well that video took a turn. It got so much deeper than I anticipated. It was like a philosophical talk. Not mad about it, just surprised

  30. Eric Carabetta

    March 26, 2022 at 8:34 am

    After the iPhone 6 all the cameras on iPhones have horrible lens flare and makes taking photos in low light with any strong light source impossible, which is all of them. I can’t speak for Android phones, but the last good iPhone camera was on the 6.

  31. Simon Kempe

    March 26, 2022 at 11:25 am

    With all the smog and fog in major cities it probably won’t be long before these cameras automatically change it to a blue sky.

  32. zeb doz

    March 26, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    Well not so hot when taking pictures of UFO’s or ghost but seems to be great for selfies , go figure huh?

  33. cinilaknedalm

    March 26, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    Sorry but computational photography results look more realistic than a blurry mess. Some phones can overlit a scene, but generally new phone pics capture more of a moment than old ones

  34. Bushra Mufti

    March 26, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    Julian, I had to double take to make sure you were wearing pants.

    • WhatsApp +① ⑧⓪⑨ ⑦⓪③ ③⑥①③

      March 27, 2022 at 9:44 am

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  35. B M

    March 26, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    Julian, I had to double take to make sure you were wearing pants.

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    March 26, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    Other than that, small sensors have gotten a lot more sensitive, and companies are putting faster lenses on phones. On top of that the photo app has gone full skynet in terms of computational photography.

  37. Henry Thong

    March 26, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    I’m pretty sure that balloon concert shot was a Japanese Breakfast show I was at

  38. Aishik Ashraf

    March 26, 2022 at 9:13 pm

    It all started with the Pixel 2 & XL.

  39. Jon Shelness

    March 26, 2022 at 9:59 pm

    “Photo realism is dead.”

  40. Astro Bro

    March 26, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    Jesus that indian accent is making me throw up

  41. Malik Hall

    March 27, 2022 at 2:20 am

    Put Bill Murray down for an auto complete.

  42. Lord Azan

    March 27, 2022 at 2:59 am

    Better sensors

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  43. Cory Shew

    March 27, 2022 at 5:12 am

    12

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      March 27, 2022 at 9:37 am

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  44. Alonzo Lombardi

    March 27, 2022 at 8:24 am

    When a smartphone can actually produce an actual optical shallow depth of field on portrait mode (blurred background) that’s when I would take Phone photography as a professional. They would need to somehow break the laws of physics tho, or create a new way of capturing light instead of what we know as camera sensors.

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      March 27, 2022 at 9:36 am

      Thanks chat me up with the number above

    • RoCk ShaDoW-WaLkEr

      April 16, 2022 at 3:53 am

      Check out some flagship Sony Xperia phones, they’ve been ahead of the curve for a long time when it comes to smart phone cameras. People sleep on Sony ;but they make awesome phones.

  45. Vheng Sahagun

    March 27, 2022 at 1:38 pm

    Most of the consumers don’t have an ability to shot great photos and editing to look eye catching images… I don’t think it’s not an illusion like what you said it’s innovation make life easier and time saving for everyone.

  46. Vo Town

    March 27, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    Lol. I thought the first dude’s going to tell me not get another dude to tell me how it works. Why not just bring out the second dude right away.

  47. Inca Moran

    March 27, 2022 at 11:38 pm

    Colour reproduction on cellphones is bad. I live in the southern hemisphere but the phones are designed in the northern hemi and they just don’t capture southern hemi colours. I have friends in the northern hemi who both use real cameras and whenever they come to the southern hemi they use different film stock. They both use Kodak film in the north and change to Fuji film when visiting the southern hemi, as Fuji reproduces the greens and blues, in particular, more truly, so it can capture the real colours of our oceans and turquoise rivers that have limestone beds. You can’t do that with a phone.

  48. Vicente Schmitt

    March 28, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    Except of the NY riverside photo, all the other comparisons are not in the same situation so not really useful to compare. Also, really shallow explanations considering 10 minutes of video..

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    March 29, 2022 at 3:09 am

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  51. Daniel X

    March 29, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    Until you try a Huawei.

  52. imark

    March 29, 2022 at 11:38 pm

    Julian, great video thanks 😊

  53. Phil

    March 30, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    Even your declarative statements? Sound like questions?

  54. Ol’ Caruso

    March 31, 2022 at 1:40 pm

    They need to just have a toggle that lets you use computational photography when its on. I’d prefer that the camera just captures whats there to the best of the lens ability most of the time.

  55. pennymarket enjoyer

    April 2, 2022 at 11:41 am

    they still look trash

  56. John Foster

    April 2, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    Sort of

  57. Grenzenlos

    April 10, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    為什麼要讓一個不相干的人來講手機攝影?他就在這裡亂講,完全搞錯了各種技術。他甚至分不清什麼是hdr和低光攝影,還聲稱5個鏡頭就有5倍光度。

    我要告訴你們,這個所謂專家和大多的觀眾一樣無知.
    Why let an irrelevant person talk about mobile phone photography? He talked nonsense here and completely mistaken all kinds of technologies. He can’t even distinguish what is hdr and low-light photography, and claims that five lenses have 5 times the luminosity.

    I want to tell you that this so-called expert is as ignorant as most of the audience.

  58. MS C

    April 10, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    great video, thanks for all the detailed clarifications

  59. Poppy333

    April 14, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    I alao appreciate my phone taking photos closer to what my eyes can see. However, i think it should be my choice to use this kind of feature and not just the only option I have.

  60. RoCk ShaDoW-WaLkEr

    April 16, 2022 at 3:48 am

    Sony Xperia have the best smart phone cameras/features I’ve ever seen, too many people sleep on them.

  61. Jose Espinoza

    April 17, 2022 at 6:26 am

    “Most photos we see now are just hallucinations”. Oh my god its so true. So many things look so different in pictures (people mostly, lol) that I have a hard time recognizing them in real life.

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