Apple Planning to Fix 'BeautyGate' Skin-Smoothing Camera Effect in iOS 12.1 Update

[unobtainium]

But... but the Halide App expert said it was normal.

Everything in the post by Halide was correct lol. Did you think this news somehow changed the underlying reason for the smoothing?
The result is that low-light photos using the front face camera will look a lot noisier. I guess some people prefer that to the smoothed look.

 

[Cosmosent]

RE: "In essence, Apple's new iPhones are taking multiple pictures at varying exposure levels, requiring noise reduction that creates a smoothing effect over the entire image, not just specifically on skin tones."

The Back 12 Mpx Wide-Angle & Front 7 Mpx image sensors in the XR, XS, & XS Max are BOTH brand-new (to AAPL) & support Full-Res 12 Mpx capture @ up-to 120 fps ... up-to eight OR nine photos total per Burst ... AAPL captures four @ intended exposure, four @ slightly different exposures, & ALSO one "special" (I believe).

AAPL uses the capability to support it's Smart HDR feature.

Because it's "sequential" & NOT "concurrent" captures, AAPL implemented @ the max speed of 120 fps.

The drawback is that they then needed to increase the ISO, which reduces Detail.

The iOS 12.1 implementation will very-likely NOT capture as many photos per Burst, which aren't really needed anyway.

One @ ideal exposure + one to two slightly UNDER-exposed + one slightly OVER-exposed is probably ideal.

The problem occurs on both the Front & Back Wide cameras / lenses / image sensors.

The problem is a direct result of AAPL raising the ISO to support Smart HDR.

It's an easily fixed problem.


BTW, every image sensor that AAPL uses that supports the following probably has the same issue (which means the Telephoto in the XS & XS Max very-likely ALSO have an updated image sensor):

• Extended dynamic range for video up to 30 fps

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Really? Those super low light shots look horrible to me. The whole point of low light photography is to introduce drama, not to wash out everything and introduce chroma noise.

I've never understood the hype over Google's camera or Samsung's camera. They're either grainy as hell (Google in anything but bright sunlight) or sharpened to the point of absurdity (Samsung).

 

[beermode]

"No, that's okay, I don't want to look better in photos."

You'd think that would be followed by "said no one ever." But apparently tech bloggers and certain forum users disagree.

How in the hell does plastic makeup effects look better? WTF?

 

[fathergll]

Ta


Talk about conspiracy nut-jobery. This wasn’t a decision made by anyone and is certainly not a “standard” (whatever that means). It is a byproduct of the smart HDR process that had the effect of smoothing surfaces (including people’s faces). Not enough people noticed it or didn’t raise enough alarm before release and once apple decided it was an issue they began to work on a solution (which takes time).

The real conspiracy is to think that the team in charge of this doesn't understand how their own software works, especially a team that is in charge of one of the most scrutinized apps for the most important product of a trillion dollar company.

 

[bchery21]

Hold on, Apple themselves created this issue; you think it's good that they are backtracking?

I think it's good that they're tweaking it to how it used to look after hearing everyone's outcry (at least they're listening?). If people want to 'beautify' themselves it should be up to them...

 

[179202]

But... but the Halide App expert said it was normal.

For over aggressive noise reduction, it IS normal. Halide photography blog wasn’t mistaken.

 

[4jasontv]

I agree. It feels/looks old and outdated right now. I can't really complain about the pictures (I've noticed the smoothing but it's not an intensity that bothers me) but the UI is just really ugly. They really need to add more options and settings to the app.

The only thing a camera needs to do is capture the scene as realistically as possible. It doesn’t need a UI. It needs a button.

 

[5105973]

I've never understood the hype over Google's camera or Samsung's camera. They're either grainy as hell (Google in anything but bright sunlight) or sharpened to the point of absurdity (Samsung).

As someone who owns and loves those phone cameras, I have to agree with you about those general tendencies. Though I think the S9+ camera I have now doesn’t overdo the sharpening the way previous generations did.

As with any camera, they can give amazing impressive shots, but the photographer needs to extend at least some effort at learning to work with what they have.

 

[nwcs]

The only thing a camera needs to do is capture the scene as realistically as possible. It doesn’t need a UI. It needs a button.

In theory but all cameras apply processing to the images to remove shot noise, apply tone curves, hue twists that people grew accustomed to seeing in images, contrast adjustments, and other things to compensate for the lower-than-human-eye dynamic range of a camera sensor. Especially one that’s as tiny as one in a smartphone.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

As someone who owns and loves those phone cameras, I have to agree with you about those general tendencies. Though I think the S9+ camera I have now doesn’t overdo the sharpening the way previous generations did.

As with any camera, they can give amazing impressive shots, but the photographer needs to extend at least some effort at learning to work with what they have.

I'll have to go look up a shootout and see then. Personally, I feel that if a phone (or a camera in general) can nail a full-auto shot, then the results when manually tweaking things should be superb.
[doublepost=1540326485][/doublepost]

The only thing a camera needs to do is capture the scene as realistically as possible. It doesn’t need a UI. It needs a button.

As someone who just spent half an hour A-B'ing two different manual camera apps, yeah, the GUI matters.

 

[jimi78]

Go figure, people complain about the filter that is automatically applied versus the filter that will be added prior to uploading. Society is so confusing SMH

 

[simplynando]

The only thing a camera needs to do is capture the scene as realistically as possible. It doesn’t need a UI. It needs a button.

It's great that "just a button" works for you. I bet if Apple took away everything inside the camera app and only left "a button" then it would be useless to a majority of the people. Having an app dedicated to the camera and having some of the more useful features that can be changed buried in the settings app is convoluted and not user friendly. So yes, a camera APP definitely needs a UI...especially when Apple touts the iPhone's camera as a major selling point.

 

[4jasontv]

As someone who just spent half an hour A-B'ing two different manual camera apps, yeah, the GUI matters.

I don’t do photography. But from your use of jargon it sounds like you do. In that case I’d say more people are more like me and just want a picture before their cat moves, and is happy to apply a filter after, rather than someone who plans their shot and takes multiple to ensure they got it. For me, if I have to take more than one picture the camera failed because it was slow to process.
[doublepost=1540328961][/doublepost]

It's great that "just a button" works for you. I bet if Apple took away everything inside the camera app and only left "a button" then it would be useless to a majority of the people. Having an app dedicated to the camera and having some of the more useful features that can be changed buried in the settings app is convoluted and not user friendly. So yes, a camera APP definitely needs a UI...especially when Apple touts the iPhone's camera as a major selling point.

I bet the opposite. Most people don’t care. “Pros” care. I don’t care how good a phone camera is. If I pay for a professional photographer I expect a dedicated camera with all the razzmatazz that one expects to see with said person.

 

[simplynando]

I don’t do photography. But from your use of jargon it sounds like you do. In that case I’d say more people are more like me and just want a picture before their cat moves, and is happy to apply a filter after, rather than someone who plans their shot and takes multiple to ensure they got it. For me, if I have to take more than one picture the camera failed because it was slow to process.
[doublepost=1540328961][/doublepost]

I bet the opposite. Most people don’t care. “Pros” care. I don’t care how good a phone camera is. If I pay for a professional photographer I expect a dedicated camera with all the razzmatazz that one expects to see with said person.

Seeing as how this is a thread of people complaining about the camera, it seems that your argument is misguided. Obviously a lot of people care about the camera. Paying a premium for a phone with dual cameras for enhanced features like optical zoom and portrait mode proves that people don't just want a button. My 69 year old grandmother isn't a "pro" but she still loves taking pictures and watching them "turn into little movies" when she presses them. I've had to help her turn on Live Photos when she accidentally turned it off. I agree a camera should be simple, but the features/options should be easily accessible for the people who want it. My phone cost $1249 and some of the biggest features promoted are the screen and the camera. It would be nice if the camera utilized the screen space a little better.

 

[PickUrPoison]

“Because otherwise, the XR offers almost everything you’d want in a 2018 phone...”

Once again MacRumors, making no mention of the lack of 3D Touch on the XR. Why, exactly?

Every time you post this, you seem to imply that MacRumors has some nefarious reason or hidden agenda regarding not mentioning the XR’s lack of 3D Touch.

Well now there’s an entire article about it. I suppose someone will start complaining now that MR is making too big a deal about it.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/23/apple-to-expand-haptic-touch-over-time/

 

[4jasontv]

Seeing as how this is a thread of people complaining about the camera, it seems that your argument is misguided. Obviously a lot of people care about the camera. Paying a premium for a phone with dual cameras for enhanced features like optical zoom and portrait mode proves that people don't just want a button. My 69 year old grandmother isn't a "pro" but she still loves taking pictures and watching them "turn into little movies" when she presses them. I've had to help her turn on Live Photos when she accidentally turned it off. I agree a camera should be simple, but the features/options should be easily accessible for the people who want it. My phone cost $1249 and some of the biggest features promoted are the screen and the camera. It would be nice if the camera utilized the screen space a little better.

I am not really seeing your point. Live photos are are automated. They have nothing to do with the UI of the camera. There are a handful of people participating in this thread. It didn't even attract a full percentage of the MacRumors community. I suspect that the average user cares more about the time it takes between when they touch their phone and when they have a usable picture than they do any feature the camera might offer. Portrait mode is "cool" but most pictures are not glamour shots and most pictures are solely for the user (as in they will never be shared or viewed again after their reason for being taken is done). I think it it would be much better if the stock camera app was as dry as possible and then they could offer a different pro camera app for the minority of people who want to tweak the ISO and use the other features.

 

[5105973]

I am not really seeing your point. Live photos are are automated. They have nothing to do with the UI of the camera. There are a handful of people participating in this thread. It didn't even attract a full percentage of the MacRumors community. I suspect that the average user cares more about the time it takes between when they touch their phone and when they have a usable picture than they do any feature the camera might offer. Portrait mode is "cool" but most pictures are not glamour shots and most pictures are solely for the user (as in they will never be shared or viewed again after their reason for being taken is done). I think it it would be much better if the stock camera app was as dry as possible and then they could offer a different pro camera app for the minority of people who want to tweak the ISO and use the other features.

The current camera app is problematic because the most basic settings are not all accessible within the app itself. You have to exit out and go into settings and find the camera settings to change certain basic settings that even many casual photographers routinely change. They should be accessible within the app as well. Android phones usually are set up this way and it really saves time.

There’s no good reason not to include more granular control settings in the app. People like yourself never need to change the default settings and can continue to hit the big button. That’s how I handle the camera about 80 percent of the time, myself.

But there are times I want more control over my settings and I want it to be more efficiently achieved. iOS isn’t quite delivering on that yet.

 

[4jasontv]

The current camera app is problematic because the most basic settings are not all accessible within the app itself. You have to exit out and go into settings and find the camera settings to change certain basic settings that even many casual photographers routinely change. They should be accessible within the app as well. Android phones usually are set up this way and it really saves time.

There’s no good reason not to include more granular control settings in the app. People like yourself never need to change the default settings and can continue to hit the big button. That’s how I handle the camera about 80 percent of the time, myself.

But there are times I want more control over my settings and I want it to be more efficiently achieved. iOS isn’t quite delivering on that yet.

I can appreciate wanting to have settings in the app, but what settings are you changing that this is an issues? Are you turning the grid off? QR codes? FPS? There aren't exactly a lot of options in settings to mess with. I don't think most people would ever change them more than once. Meanwhile we still don't have a dedicated camcorder app, as it's still squished in with the camera app. Every unused or unneeded feature slows the app down and increases the likelihood the moment we are trying to capture will be missed. A dedicated pro app would allow you to take your pictures when time isn't an issue. The rest of us want our picture and want to move on.

 

[simplynando]

I am not really seeing your point. Live photos are are automated. They have nothing to do with the UI of the camera. There are a handful of people participating in this thread. It didn't even attract a full percentage of the MacRumors community. I suspect that the average user cares more about the time it takes between when they touch their phone and when they have a usable picture than they do any feature the camera might offer. Portrait mode is "cool" but most pictures are not glamour shots and most pictures are solely for the user (as in they will never be shared or viewed again after their reason for being taken is done). I think it it would be much better if the stock camera app was as dry as possible and then they could offer a different pro camera app for the minority of people who want to tweak the ISO and use the other features.

You said "Most people don't care." The fact that this is being brought up multiple times shows that people DO care. A quick search for "Beautygate" in the Macrumors forum will show you at least 5 different threads on this same issue.
And my point for the live photos is that it is an option, not automated if it gets turned off. Flash, zoom, Live photos, timer, filters, video, portrait mode, slo-mo, time lapse and panoramic are all different options to be selected in the app and are all part of the UI. A single button wouldn't work for all of those options. Remember when everyone was excited for selfie lighting? That was a tweak to the UI because people wanted it.

For your needs, these options obviously go unused. I can agree that some people just want to take a picture and be done, but that's not true for most. Especially when most people are mostly glued to their phones and social media and are constantly sharing pictures. I challenge you to find a selfie taker that doesn't take multiple pictures and change the exposure, flash or angle before being satisfied with just 1 picture after taking 20.

 

[4jasontv]

You said "Most people don't care." The fact that this is being brought up multiple times shows that people DO care. A quick search for "Beautygate" in the Macrumors forum will show you at least 5 different threads on this same issue.
And my point for the live photos is that it is an option, not automated if it gets turned off. Flash, zoom, Live photos, timer, filters, video, portrait mode, slo-mo, time lapse and panoramic are all different options to be selected in the app and are all part of the UI. A single button wouldn't work for all of those options. Remember when everyone was excited for selfie lighting? That was a tweak to the UI because people wanted it.

For your needs, these options obviously go unused. I can agree that some people just want to take a picture and be done, but that's not true for most. Especially when most people are mostly glued to their phones and social media and are constantly sharing pictures. I challenge you to find a selfie taker that doesn't take multiple pictures and change the exposure, flash or angle before being satisfied with just 1 picture after taking 20.

Flash is automated. Zoom is a basic gesture. Live photos is likely never turned off. Timer would make more sense if it was a 3D touch on the shutter. Filters and portrait mode should be post processing in the photos app. Video, slo-mo, and time lapse should be in a different app not the camera. Panoramic should be self sensing as multiple photos with overlap should trigger it. No need for a button.

I'm not saying people don't share photos. I am saying most photos taken are not shared.

We see this time and time again. What MacRumors cares about, and what the average user cares about don't always overlap. The number of times something is brought up here doesn't mean much for a feature like this.

 

[willentrekin]

You said "Most people don't care." The fact that this is being brought up multiple times shows that people DO care. A quick search for "Beautygate" in the Macrumors forum will show you at least 5 different threads on this same issue.

What's ironic is that this kind of proves the opposite of what you want it to. It's a very vocal minority. So niche you pretty much have to go to a niche site (no offense MacRumors, but you're niche for sure) and use a search function to dig through to find people complaining about it.

How in the hell does plastic makeup effects look better? WTF?

I don't know about "plastic," but from what I read the camera applies a smoothing algorithm to images. Kind of like when magazines retouch photos of models taken by professional photographers with pro gear.

Thing is, this is exactly what Apple should be doing -- continuing to experiment on the software side and iterate and reiterate on how sensors, lenses, and software ultimately process and produce great images. And in fact from what I understand it's the direction the industry is moving in; Canon's new full frame mirrorless enables live viewing of photo effects before any shots are taken, so you can literally see in advance the picture you're about to take.

 

[KevinN206]

Go figure, people complain about the filter that is automatically applied versus the filter that will be added prior to uploading. Society is so confusing SMH

I find it more confusing that you think that giving the user a choice is "confusing". Such choice had existed before with prior iPhones. Sometimes people want to apply multiple filters so it makes most sense to start with something as original as possible. But you are probably right Apple knows most of us could use some plastic surgery.
[doublepost=1540341453][/doublepost]

What's ironic is that this kind of proves the opposite of what you want it to. It's a very vocal minority. So niche you pretty much have to go to a niche site (no offense MacRumors, but you're niche for sure) and use a search function to dig through to find people complaining about it.



I don't know about "plastic," but from what I read the camera applies a smoothing algorithm to images. Kind of like when magazines retouch photos of models taken by professional photographers with pro gear.

Thing is, this is exactly what Apple should be doing -- continuing to experiment on the software side and iterate and reiterate on how sensors, lenses, and software ultimately process and produce great images. And in fact from what I understand it's the direction the industry is moving in; Canon's new full frame mirrorless enables live viewing of photo effects before any shots are taken, so you can literally see in advance the picture you're about to take.

And it can be disabled. We don't care if Apple wants to apply the smoothing but at least make it option to disable. Regardless it looks like their software algorithm is off hence sometimes causing this weird fake looking skin.

 

[5105973]

I can appreciate wanting to have settings in the app, but what settings are you changing that this is an issues? Are you turning the grid off? QR codes? FPS? There aren't exactly a lot of options in settings to mess with. I don't think most people would ever change them more than once. Meanwhile we still don't have a dedicated camcorder app, as it's still squished in with the camera app. Every unused or unneeded feature slows the app down and increases the likelihood the moment we are trying to capture will be missed. A dedicated pro app would allow you to take your pictures when time isn't an issue. The rest of us want our picture and want to move on.

Well for starters it would be nice to be able to turn auto HDR on or off in the app. Why would having granular controls in the app preclude point and shoot simplicity. This coexists peacefully on my S9+. I can choose pro settings or ignore them and hit the button and let the camera do all the work. Choices! They’re wonderful!

 

[willentrekin]

And it can be disabled. We don't care if Apple wants to apply the smoothing but at least make it option to disable. Regardless it looks like their software algorithm is off hence sometimes causing this weird fake looking skin.

I don't disagree with that, but it's been what five weeks since launch? Hell, I wouldn't even know what a software algorithm looks like, never mind how to edit one to alter its effects.