I can understand the reactions: even people inside Nokia have reacted similarly.

Despite this, the innovation and news is NOT the number of pixels but rather HOW those pixels are used. 

It’s been incredibly exciting to have been associated with this project from a very early stage. For some of our team, it’s taken over five years to bring this to the market, such is the technological and engineering achievement, so you can perhaps imagine the excitement but also sense of relief some of us are feeling right now.

Given the amount of effort that’s gone into this project, I wanted to share more of the background as well as some more detail around how PureView works. 

Where it all started

In late 2005, Nokia were in the final phases of preparing the Nokia N73 3Mpix AF and the rather unique N93 3Mpix AF 3x optical zoom smartphones for introduction in the spring of 2006. We’d already been researching alternative directions in the area of imaging and camera development as well as extending the direction both of these products would be soon starting. Roughly a year after their introduction, the N95 and N93i came to market.

Around this time, we were starting the development of a number of next-generation imaging rich smartphones. Commercial products such as the Nokia N82, N86 8MP as well as the extremely popular Nokia N8. But there were many other projects intended to include optical zoom which never made it to the market. A number of these were quite advanced concepts using different camera configurations and physical form factors, some conventional, some significantly different.

However, over this time, the market was evolving. For example, displays were becoming bigger and bigger. This aspect alone resulted in a number of concepts not being taken forward due to the limited potential screen size of some concepts. Another important factor was how market expectations were evolving in the area of image quality.

For example, at one stage we had working prototypes equipped with optical zoom using folded optics. Despite this almost reaching commercialization, the module was relatively large and we decided the performance would not be fundamentally good enough to meet the evolving expectations.

It became clear to us that if we were ever to meet the increasing expectations and evolving market dynamics we were going to need to find a new direction in imaging.

After developing several optical zoom modules, we were still seeing significant performance trade-offs caused by optical zoom: performance in low light; image sharpness at both ends of the zoom range; audible noise problems; slow zooming speed and lost focus when zooming during video. We became convinced this could never be the great experience we once hoped. You’d need to accept a bigger, more expensive device with poor f no., a small and noisy image sensor and lower optical resolution just to be able to zoom.

Around this time, the Nokia imaging team had just finished creating a tool called the Camera Simulation Environment. This tool is a virtual environment where we can easily simulate the performance of different types of optics, image sensors and image processing algorithms and see the impact of different technical solutions to the final image quality. It’s an easy and fast way to try new ideas.

Nokia was also leading the market by driving large image sensors into devices and understood how to integrate large image sensors in to small camera modules. The Nokia N73 and N95 were the first mobile products with 1/2.5” sensors and since then we’ve continued to introduce large sensors such as the 1/1.83” sensor in the Nokia N8.

Of course, we understood the need for being able to zoom and frame the shot during video recording. However, compromising image and video quality to achieve the zooming capability was something we were not willing to do. 

One idea leads to another

One day when a couple of our engineers met over lunch, one of them mentioned how earlier that day he found an article in the Electronics Times on satellite imaging inspiring, specifically how satellite imaging uses extremely high resolution sensors to capture high resolution images.  It was the fact that we typically only ever look at a section of a satellite image that inspired him the most.

An idea emerged from this discussion to use a sensor with somewhat higher resolution sensor than needed at the time but output a lower resolution image than the sensor input resolution possibly adding some upscaling/interpolation to provide a meaningful enough zoom range. This would provide the user with an experience similar to optical zoom. Whilst the performance was thought to be superior to conventional digital zoom as well as result in a far smaller package than optical zoom, it was felt that the performance would still not be up to the standard we were aiming to achieve.

Sometime later after a ten-hour long meeting seeking to solve the technical challenges of optical zooming, a few engineers were sitting in a Tokyo hotel bar. During a lively discussion about how the technical problems of optical zooming could be solved the earlier idea came up again in conversation…. What if we would just add enough pixels to avoid having to upscale the image?

….after some further discussion they concluded that a sufficiently large enough image sensor could create an output image with excellent low light performance, excellent optical performance as well as maintaining a low f no. Instead of trade-offs, there would be significant benefits, especially at the wide range of the zoom. As an additional benefit the file sizes would be small due to low noise whilst the level of detail would be way beyond anything seen before thanks to the pixel oversampling.

At full zoom, while pixel oversampling could not be used, optical performance would benefit as only the central optical path would be used, where the performance is always superior due to manufacturing tolerances and light incoming angle. We could therefore keep the same low f no. and achieve performance which is not possible with optical zooming (not even in expensive SLR optics. As a bonus the closest focus distance would remain the same as wide, resulting in greater macro performance!

We would also achieve instant and silent zooming by keeping the focus during zooming which has always been a problem in optical zooms. We would also be able to achieve simpler, smaller and more robust construction for the camera. Eureka! The solution was right there!

That evening the basic idea had been sketched on a bar napkin, but even during ‘the morning after’ it was clear this idea was really worth taking seriously.

In order to make the camera happen, the largest and highest resolution image sensor in mobile devices would need to be created. Simulations showed that we would need new solutions and materials in the optics to be able to achieve great optical performance in a small enough package. Manufacturing tolerances, materials and surface accuracy used in SLRs, pocket cameras or mobile cameras would not be enough to make it work. Working closely with Carl Zeiss, we analysed different optical solutions, materials and manufacturing technologies, searching the world for image sensor technologies and companies willing to take on the challenge.

We had often debated that, for the vast majority, 5-megapixels completely fulfils their real world needs, but the market for many years has been pixels, pixels, pixels. It’s hard to block that out. Our friends at Carl Zeiss believed the same. At the time, the challenge was like Columbus trying to convince people the world was round and not flat.

Shaping the sensor

At this time, the sensor was supporting the conventional 4:3 aspect ratio. 4:3 aspect ratios were the norm but we could see the future was 16:9. The challenge was how to support 4:3 and 16:9. This part of the story I remember well as I was in the meeting when we brainstormed this part of the module design.

People from Nokia were in the meeting, of course, but also our friends from the companies we work with often on our high-end optics and sensors. The atmosphere was relaxed but I had a feeling that some of our optics and sensor suppliers thought we were perhaps crazy. Nevertheless, they were still putting 100% into the project. We were really pushing the boundaries of optical design at this point clearly going where no one had dared before.

In this meeting we created the idea to use the 13:9 sensor based around the optical circle to fully support both 16:9 and 4:3. Of course, since then we have been incorporating this into the new modules for example in the N9, Lumia 800 and 900. But to maintain the same effective zoom range someone quickly pointed out we were going to have to increase the size of the sensor even further… and that’s how we ended up with 41-megapixels.

A few months later, in October 2008, the initial prototyping had been done. There was enough evidence now to show this was possible, although we knew there were going to be lots of challenges ahead of us.

Many different optical designs were trialled, using different lens configurations, lens materials, lens designs etc. In the end, I think we considered around 40 design proposals. As one aspect improved, another became worse. We continuously changed and then evolved the design until we were completely happy with the balance of the various aspects.

But even then, while we knew the camera performance would be really good, we didn’t know how good. Simulations are one thing but with so much complexity involved in the image processing as the area of the sensor used changed and effecting scaling and oversampling behaviour, we never really knew that we could be 100% confident what would work well and what wouldn’t. A great deal of discussion and simulating was carried out to try and predict every eventuality, but there’s only so much you can do.

When the very first prototype camera modules became available, the excitement and anticipation of all those involved in the project was pretty extreme. Would it be as good as our simulations showed? One sample was sent to our friends at Carl Zeiss for testing around this time. A few of guys from our imaging team went to take some shots over the Pyhäjärvi lake, which lies in between cities Tampere and Nokia (yes, there really is a city called Nokia in Finland).

I remember the content of two emails still to this day. One from the Tampere team with images attached captured with the first prototype camera and another captured with a Canon digital SLR as a reference. I opened both images and viewed immediately at 100%. Initially, I thought the images were labelled wrongly. Then I also saw the email from Carl Zeiss with the results from the lab testing. It’s usual for Carl Zeiss to provide a list of comments on areas where improvements could be made. On this occasion however, the email was uncharacteristically short. Here’s a short unedited excerpt from that email: “Our lab people are VERY happy with the quality. :-) ”

Relief!

This is, without doubt, our most complex imaging project to date. Often the ‘big idea’ has involved much discussion, but throughout the development process, as exciting as it may sound to introduce a device equipped with a 41-megapixel image sensor, our real excitement has ALWAYS been associated with the opportunities and in particular the performance this provides in its default form when shooting ‘just’ 5-megapixel images or when recording full HD video. We’ve waited a very long time to be able to do what we believe is right and break free from the years of legacies laid down behind us.

During the journey, what was originally a simple idea evolved into something a great deal more revolutionary. This was possible due to Nokia’s long expertise in imaging, partnering with the best companies in the world, incredible craftsmanship and unwillingness to compromise in performance.

[image note: the images in this post have been resized in PhotoShop. To inspect the quality of the Nokia 808 PureView's output, check out the flickr set where they were first published.]

First, here’s the requests we heard the most from Nokia N8 owners:

• Ability to record video at closer distances
• Smoother video of moving subjects or when panning
• Faster access to scene modes, especially close-up mode
• Exposure control in video
• Viewfinder grid not effected by scene modes, camera exit/reopening
• Smoother zoom
• Settings accessed through one control point
• Red-eye reduction performance improvements

We’ve been able to respond to all of these with two new updates.

Let’s go through what we’ve done, first with the Symbian Anna update.

There are a number of UI improvements, some are very subtle but all of them combine to make life just a little bit easier and faster.

Settings

Settings are now accessed from the main toolbar, so you have a single access point for features and settings. Those settings used less frequently are grouped under the settings button in the toolbar. This is so we could maintain a single collection of features/settings used on a shot-by-shot or series-of-shots basis, without having to scroll between windows or pages of settings, trying to find the one you’re looking for, as some applications do. While I know this looks more or less the same as earlier Symbian releases, it does provide the benefit of making everything equally accessible. This isn’t perfect, but it’s better. We’re actively engaged in developing an entirely new interaction model for future products, so please add your comments and suggestions below. We may still be able to incorporate some of them.

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Scene modes

Scene modes are now faster to set requiring two fewer clicks to change.

If you select an option from the tool bar once you’ve selected the desired parameter e.g. cloudy white balance, rather than having to back-step through to return to the viewfinder, simply press the shutter release and it will confirm the setting and return you directly to the viewfinder. If, however, you want to change further options in the tool pane, select OK to return to the toolbar.

Behind the scenes

In video, as the exposure system is very centre-weighted, we’ve added an exposure compensation control (scene brightness for those not familiar with this terminology) to give you the ability to compensate in situations where strong off-centre lighting may not be taken into account for the exposure. For example, when shooting at a live concert where there can be a great deal of off-centre strong lighting.

Previously, the ND filter would engage in bright light. However, in video this would cause a single dropped frame and if you listened carefully you could hear a quiet, short click. As a result, we’ve now disabled the ND filter in video capture, therefore helping to maintain a more stable video frame rate.

And what else?

In flash conditions, we’ve now enabled the red-eye removal algorithm in auto flash mode. Previously it was only active in the red-eye reduction flash mode. The detection and correction algorithms have also been improved. This remains an extremely challenging area – for everyone in the industry – so we can’t unfortunately achieve 100% detection and correction accuracy but, of course, we continue to aim to get as close as possible to that figure.

We’ve corrected a bug where the shutter speed in Night Portrait was set too high. This has now been resolved so the shutter speed will drop to 1/5 with flash if needed.

Smoother zoom, specifically for video, was already implemented in an earlier release.

So that’s what we’ve done in the Anna release. Whilst individually they’re small details, they all help to improve the versatility, performance and experience when using the N8.

Now, we take it further!

But now let’s move on to the Beta Labs camera update for the N8 where we’ve been able to make some further refinements and performance enhancements. You can download this N8-specific update from here.

So why have we released this update through Beta Labs?

The simple answer was that we really wanted to go further with the Nokia N8 camera but didn’t want to tie it to a future software update release. We therefore decided to create this update via our Beta Labs channel to bring these as quickly as possible, this seemed the best way of doing that. And at the same time you can use the Beta Labs discussion tools for providing feedback which we’d like to use for on-going development.

Again, this updated application will look familiar to you, but it’s much faster to use and more intuitive. Moving the video/stills mode switch to the top left has provided an extra slot on the right which we’ve used to provide direct access to the scene modes from the viewfinder and in the case of video, exposure compensation is available in place of the flash control for direct accessibility.

But the enhancements you’ve been wanting most are 30fps video and continuous autofocus.

Smoother video

We’ve spent a lot of time optimising the code here to make the video smooth and frame-rate stable. This allowed us to increase the video frame rate to 30fps and achieve excellent stability. Using the older code resulted in less stable frame rates. Using the Beta Labs application you’ll get 30fps in auto mode. This provides significantly smoother videos, especially during panning. There’s been a lot of online discussion around whether 30fps is really needed given movies are shot using 24fps.

With movie cameras the time interval between each frame is extremely short compared to the time the shutter is open. Whereas with electronic shutter-equipped devices such as the N8, the interval between frames can easily be greater than the time the sensor is exposed. By increasing the frame rate with such devices, the interval between frames is reduced resulting in smoother video.

Video close-up

To recap, the Nokia N8 uses an Active Hyperfocal System for video which means videos will be sharp from around 60-80cm through to infinity. We wanted to preserve the benefits of this system, but also allow people to shoot at closer distances. We haven’t got what I would call a perfect solution here yet but we’d be very interested to hear your feedback on this approach. I’ve been using it for quite a while and, generally-speaking, I’m very happy with the performance. I would encourage you to use it and learn where it works best for you. Personally, as I’ve used it more and more I’ve been able to record with greater predictability and therefore able to shoot higher quality video without the distraction of focus-hunting.

The Nokia N8 has the industry’s fastest focusing system for capturing stills. This is achieved by using a combination of a specially-developed focus-control algorithm and a piezo lens drive. But this speed comes at a slight cost. The downside is that piezo mechanisms can make more noise than the voice coil lens drive mechanisms used on other devices. To combat this issue, we’ve also developed a noise filtering system which specifically extracts the noise pattern the piezo lens drive emits from the audio signals. It works similarly to noise-cancelling headphones. This took quite some time to get just right, as we didn’t want to impact the already excellent audio recording capability of the N8, still one of very few devices which record audio with a stereo ambient audio track.

It is possible to use the continuous autofocus by selecting close-up mode at distances from 10cm through to infinity, but we’ve optimised it more for close-up. So at longer distances it may not work quite as expected. I’d personally recommend using the regular auto mode if you know your subject will be further away than 60-80cm and /or you’re shooting in very low light.

Staying with video, we’re also adding a viewfinder grid. You’ll see lines and intersections to indicate the rule of thirds reference points, as well as two horizontal lines which indicate the area for the 2.39:1 cinematic aspect ratio. We’d seen a number of projects where in post-production editing, the original 16:9 video had been cropped to this popular cinematic aspect ratio so I thought we could add these to make the lives of those people a little easier.

And finally, we’ve made both the stills and video viewfinder grids persistent, so after changing scene modes or closing the camera, they’ll remain active.

Does this make the N8’s camera now perfect? No, I don’t think we can ever reach perfect, but it certainly makes what many regard as the world’s best camera smartphone, even better! Please hit the comments below and tell us what you think.

NB: This camera update is for the Nokia N8 with Symbian Anna. If you do not yet have Symbian Anna, you can check for it with Ovi Suite or on your device use the SW update app.

Also, restart your phone after installing the beta software.

Update: a new version is now available that fixes the 30fps issue

Image via jamin2

GLOBAL

Our biggest challenge without doubt has been to reduce the size of the camera to such a degree that the design intent could be realised, whilst also targeting performance as close as possible to the industry-leading and highly regarded Nokia N8.

To put some context around this, to achieve the design goal we knew the camera would have to be a certain set of dimensions. Those dimensions are equivalent to a massive 70% reduction in size compared to the module used in the Nokia N8!

To me, the combination of performance and capabilities of the camera defies expectation for a product so elegant in its form. On the face of it, the camera is so elegantly integrated you’d be forgiven for thinking that from a capability perspective,  it was an afterthought. And then you look at the long list of the Nokia N9’s imaging capabilities:

• Industry-first imaging sensor which is FULLY optimised for BOTH 16:9 AND 4:3 images
• Industry-leading Carl Zeiss optics
• Super wide-angle optics – the widest in the industry. Up to as much as 60% more viewing area than other broadly comparable devices
• f/2.2 aperture – largest ever in a mobile device
• Extremely responsive, especially switching from stills to video and vice-versa and shot to shot
• Touch AF for both video and stills
• Full time continuous AF in BOTH video and stills plus face detection
• HD video with stereo audio (still one of very few devices that provide high quality audio recording in video)
• Seamless workflows optimised for speed or editing & sharing
• Zoom in to images directly in the post capture view, edit and share all without leaving the camera – the most seamless mobile imaging experience
• Non-destructive editing of images – go back to the original image at any time. Undo or redo edits even months later
• New high power dual LED flash – 20% more powerful than our previous most powerful LED flash despite its compact size
• Geo tagging with place names rather than just co-ordinates
• AMBR – Automatic Motion Blur Reduction
• Not forgetting the touch to share of images between handsets using NFC technology

A number of these have already been covered in other entries on this site. However, there are a few I wanted to share some further details around.

New Generation Sensor

Since day one, mobile phones have used sensors with a 4:3 aspect ratio. With the increasing popularity of viewing images electronically and on widescreen displays (typically 16:9) we’ve for some time wanted to optimise the experience around this increasingly popular format. Since the introduction of the Nokia N900 and more recently the Symbian^3 family of products led by the Nokia N8, we’ve been using 4:3 sensors but with the default setting of 16:9 image/video capture. To achieve the 16:9 format from a 4:3 sensor has meant cropping the top and bottom of the image. This is pretty much what any product that provides the 16:9 option does, even virtually all dedicated digital cameras.

A few years back when we were debating how best to optimise the experience around 16:9, the solution that emerged first was, of course, to choose a sensor which is already sized to the 16:9 proportions. However, 4:3 still provides advantages, especially for portrait oriented images. The challenge was how could we retain the best of both worlds? That’s when we came up with the idea of using a sensor which would allow exactly that.

Take a look at this first illustration.

The image formed by the optics is circular rather than as we know it to be typically rectangular. The key behind this concept is how a 16:9 area fits differently within the optical circle to that of a 4:3 area. One provides more height to the image, the other more width. Current 16:9 crops only provide less, but formatted to the 16:9 aspect ratio.

To have a single sensor that provides this capability, however, means a sensor with more pixels than you need at any one time. In the case of the new Nokia N9, while it says 8-megapixels on the product, the sensor is actually 8.7-megapixels. You can see in the illustration the total area covered by the image sensor as well as the portions of the sensor used according to the chosen aspect ratio. The result of this is the only mobile device which genuinely gets more in the width of the picture than the industry norm 4:3, leaving you the flexibility to choose the best aspect ratio for the scene.

One of the benefits of Nokia’s scale has long been being able to work directly with component manufacturers to design and develop bespoke components. This new sensor, like in many of our products, especially the Nokia N8, is designed and developed to our own specification and exclusively supplied to Nokia, as are our optics of course: no off-the-shelf components will meet our demanding requirements.

These are actual N9 images downscaled in Photoshop for the purposes of this article. You can click through to see them a little larger.

The first allows you to see the difference it can make on the composition for the same subject by using different aspect ratios.

The second allows you to see the difference between the N9 and a very popular competitor device. The highlighted area is the area you won’t capture with other popular devices. There are many devices which don’t even come close to this. I used a competitor’s product with quite a wide angle lens as a reference device to be fair.

Using conventional comparisons to 35mm, the Carl Zeiss optics are equivalent to 28mm, currently the widest in the industry. However this assumes the 4:3 aspect ratio. However, because we’re using the image circle more effectively in 16:9, to achieve the same horizontal field of view the Nokia N9 provides, you’ll need a 26mm equivalent wide-angle lens from a 4:3 image sensor to rival it. That’s by far the widest currently and wider than many digital cameras provide. We believe this fits extremely well with the 24/7 nature of these devices. What’s also important to note is that wide-angle capability is also realised when shooting video where many broadly comparable devices use a crop to help improve performance. Despite this super wide-angle the benefit of working with Carl Zeiss means we’re able to still keep distortion under control. It’s a real feat of optical engineering.

Small footprint

Let’s now look at how we were able to reduce the size of the module. One of the most important considerations was low light performance. The principle contributor to the size of the module used in the Nokia N8 is the industry’s largest ever imaging sensor, this causes not just the footprint to be larger but also the height of the module. Hence why the N8 has a raised area on the rear of the device to accommodate the camera module. For the design to be successful it was essential to eliminate this protrusion.

To do so meant it was obvious the camera was going to have to be significantly slimmer. 12-megapixels in a module that size wasn’t going to be possible unless we’d been prepared to compromise the low light performance. We had a lot of internal debate around that point! On one side there are still a lot of people who believe megapixels is a measure of camera performance, while a growing number of others know it can result in compromise. We had the same challenge with the Nokia N8, should we go for 12-megapixels like others with smaller pixels and a smaller module or do what we felt was right? It’s always been our intent to provide cameras with a focus on real world performance. But on the flip side we need to consider what’s believed to be competitive in the market. We don’t believe in adding pixels just for the sake of it, if it doesn’t provide any genuine benefit.

The 8.7-megapixel sensor allowed us to reduce the footprint and height of the module. We also weren’t going to be able to incorporate xenon flash due to the size of the component, especially the capacitor. The way our engineers talk about the size of this component you’d think it was the size of a house! Relative to the other components, it is though. This meant LED flash. We’re using our most powerful LED flash to date. It’s 20% brighter than our previous brightest, yet in an even smaller package than before. Reducing the size of the pixels from those used in the N8 also allowed us to make a further reduction in sensor foot print as well as the most critical dimension, the height of the module. So we’d realised our goal in terms of physical design but the concern relating to low light performance remained.

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Two developments helped us greatly here.

1. Super large f/2.2 aperture allowing approximately 75% more light to reach the image sensor. This is the largest aperture ever incorporated in to a mobile and larger than most digital cameras.

2. Adoption of the latest generation sensors which provide increased sensitivity as well as improvements in the processing of data resulting in lower visual noise.

Combining these improvements, the low light performance between the new Nokia N9 and the N8 is broadly comparable depending on your preference of noise handling. When shooting with flash, the xenon-equipped N8 still has the edge over the N9 in terms of shooting distance and ability to freeze movement but these are two quite different devices. One is focused on creation, the other all-round capability in an extremely seductive body.

Given the extremely positive reaction to our image optimisation approach with the Nokia N8, we’ve tried to get as close to that as we can with the N9: natural detail with little/no sharpening, little/no noise reduction (in good lighting at least) with punchy but not oversaturated colour. I’ve had a lot of people in the last few days ask me about which is best, the N8’s camera or the new one in the N9. I think the N8 can still retain its crown as world’s best camera smartphone given it’s all-round performance is so good, but given the N9’s camera is 70% [!] smaller, I think the team have done a really great job in getting as close as they have. In fact, for some people, in some situations, you may prefer the Nokia N9. We’ll share some sample images with you all very soon.

Flexible autofocus options

The Nokia N9 provides a great deal of flexibility in focusing. Providing both touch and full time continuous autofocus as close as 10cm. The N9 is a full touch capture experience. Touch AF means your finger or thumb can easily move between focus point selection and the touch based capture key without changing your grip on the device. You can still perform focus lock by keeping your finger on the touch capture key like you would with a physical key although in most cases touch AF means you don’t need to do this as you simply touch where the subject is in the frame. Face detection is also provided for improved ease of use, reducing any need for changing the focus point when faces are detected.

Full-time continuous AF works in both still and video modes. In video, its benefit is to provide smooth focus from 10cm through to infinity. Touch selection of the focus point is also available to provide flexibility when you want your subject to be positioned at the edge of the frame for example or moves during recording. In stills mode continuous AF helps to eliminate in the majority of cases the lag associated with autofocus. In many cases, once you’re ready to shoot, continuous AF will already have correctly focused the scene or subject. Simply touching the capture key results in almost instant capture with virtually no delay.

A great deal of optimisation has gone into creating a highly responsive device and the freedom to capture when you want to. Pressing the capture key will immediately capture the image, whether focusing is complete or not. In most situations focus will be complete before you press the capture key. This was a conscious decision to provide fast capture at all times. If however you want to ensure the image is in perfect focus (assuming it’s not already indicated by the colour of the focus area) holding the capture key will focus and when complete lock. As you lift your finger from the screen it immediately captures the image. If, however, you slide your finger off the capture key it will cancel focus lock and no image is captured, so you have exactly the same control as a physical key but with great ergonomics.

Improved workflows

The teams have also been working hard on creating and optimising seamless imaging workflows. The first of these is optimised for speed. From first use, you’ll find that when you capture an image/video, it will return you immediately to the viewfinder ready for the next image/video. This is the fastest way of using the Nokia N9. However, if you prefer to see the image you just captured or have the ability to immediately edit and/or share the content, change the setting for ‘show captured content’ to ‘2 seconds’, ‘5 seconds’ or ‘No time-out’ (my personal preference being ‘no time-out’). Now you’ll access the second workflow. Immediately after capture you’re able to zoom in to the image to check sharpness etc without having to access the gallery from a separate link. Popular editing options for stills are built-in and sharing for both stills and videos is also available, without ever having to leave the camera. It’s a really slick, seamless experience.

Non-destructive still editing

Jens Wilke has already touched on this but I just wanted to mention it again as it’s a really great innovation. The Nokia N9 provides the ability to edit images on the device using a set of popular editing options but whilst being able to go back even months later to the original with just one click. This is really powerful, and for many, completely removes the PC from the traditional imaging chain.

So beauty on the surface but something of a beast inside…

LONDON, England

The big misconception goes something like this. Low tech = cheap = poor performance. Well, let’s explain more and see if that’s the view you have in a few minutes…

Fixed focus cameras have no moving components and have simple cost-driven optics. That’s true. So based on this background, I can understand why people come to such conclusions. After all, fixed focus cameras have been around for years, right? And they’ve always been used in cheap, uninspiring products, right?

However, the only similarity between fixed focus cameras of days gone by and Nokia’s Full Focus cameras is that they have no moving lens elements. That’s where the similarity ends.

What about autofocus cameras? Let’s first start by saying, yes, mechanical autofocus modules are incredibly complex with moving lens elements and lens driving mechanisms which are so incredibly compact with such high precision engineering that they have to be analysed during development using electron microscopes. Putting the mechanics to one side, it could be easily argued that Full Focus cameras are in fact more complex than autofocus cameras. But before we get to that, let’s explain why we developed these Full Focus cameras.

Necessity is the mother of Full Focus

Some years ago, we became very much aware that there would be a need for smaller and smaller camera modules. As mobile devices packed in more and more components, each component over time would need to be progressively miniaturised. In addition to this trend, we could see the frustration for casual users with mobile devices where there usage is increasingly spontaneous.

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We therefore needed to develop cameras which could be used faster and with less hassle than the autofocus cameras of the time – and were smaller, too. For these principle reasons, Full Focus cameras have been developed and utilised widely across our portfolio to provide the best balance available today between performance and convenience of operation for those people these devices are developed for.

Here are the unique benefits of these cameras:

1. With a Nokia Full Focus camera you can simply grab moments without the fear of images or videos ever being out of focus for subjects from around 50cm through to infinity, regardless of lighting conditions or subject position in the frame etc.
2. No shooting lag waiting for autofocus. Despite the Nokia N8 featuring the fastest autofocus of any mobile at just 350ms (average), it’s still a delay.
3. Everything from approximately 50cm to infinity in the same picture/video appears in focus. Hence the name ‘Full Focus’ cameras. Conventional cameras have less ‘depth of field’ than Full Focus cameras and therefore, distant objects will appear blurred. Those more experienced photographers may – of course – prefer the reduced depth of field look. However, those less involved (the vast majority of those who take pictures) find the “everything in focus” look very appealing.
4. Slimmer camera modules – leading to slimmer product designs.

So what makes this possible?

There are two principle elements which make Nokia Full Focus cameras possible. First, very complex lens design and second, incredibly sophisticated image processing. Let’s look at both of these in more detail.

Complex lens design

It’s fair to say that at Nokia, we have been pushing lens design way beyond what people just a few years ago thought was impossible. The latest generation Full Focus camera used in the Nokia E7, C7 and C6 uses a four-element plastic lens design. Some will be saying at this point, “plastic, yuk! Told you so, cheap lenses.” The truth is that the lens designs we are now using are so complex that you simply can’t mass produce them using glass. Referring to these simply as ‘plastic’ would be doing a huge injustice to the lens designers.

In the case of this latest generation Full Focus module, for the four lens elements, we use three different polymers. Each polymer is selected based on the design of each lens element. For example, the way the polymer flows into the incredibly high precision lens moulds will influence the optical characteristics. For this reason, the lens designer will use different polymers based on the flow characteristics of the material’s journey into the mould, amongst many other aspects, such as how the material cools, the surface precision, internal stresses etc. etc. All these things need to be balanced as part of the lens design. And that’s not even considering the optical performance characteristics such as optical index, light dispersion properties, as well as possible aberrations such as colour fringing.

Blurred for clarity

This may sound crazy, but a principle aspect of this complex lens design to is to blur the image. Yes – you heard right, to blur the image, but… this isn’t like smearing Vaseline over the lens like some diffused effect: this is strictly controlled blurring of the image.

Conventional lenses have a spherical surface. This means that the curvature of the lens across the surface is of an even radius. Such lens forms today are easy to produce. The next step was aspherical lenses. Here the radius of the curvature changes as you move from the centre of the lens to the outside. These require high-precision manufacturing and have been instrumental in allowing much smaller and more complex lens designs. For example, all of the lenses used in the Nokia N8 are aspherical.

This Full Focus lens design goes way beyond this though. Lens surfaces have a form which is far more intricate than ever before. It’s surface curvature changes many times as you move from the centre to the edge of the lens element. Conventional lens manufacturing simply can’t be used for such a lens design. The only way you can produce such a lens is by moulding. Our lens tolerances are normally measured to less than a few thousandths of a millimetre. But in the case of these special lenses, the tolerances have to be even higher!

Three or four years ago, it simply wasn’t possible to mass produce lenses with such high precision. It’s this breakthrough that fundamentally make Nokia Full Focus cameras possible. But that’s only one part of the story. And if you know anything about lens manufacturing you’ll know that greater precision increases the cost, rather than reduces it. But that’s a necessary cost to create these cameras.

Add secret sauce

What we’re left with now is a subtly blurred image. So the next stage is the highly complex image processing which takes our slightly blurred image and then processes it so that we end up with an image/video which is sharp from around 50cm through to infinity and yet fits in super slim devices like the new E7 and C7.

Unfortunately, I can’t go into too many details behind the processing as they are classified as secret. However, what I can say is that, despite no moving lens elements and an image which is slightly blurred before processing, these algorithms digitally and dynamically focus the image. So objects at different distances have a dynamic influence on the image processing carried out in each individual image. So each image is processed according to the content of the image rather than some generic image processing algorithm.

The data now leaves the camera module – having been blurred and then processed so it’s sharp again – and is now passed to the image processor. Here, the more conventional image processing is applied to the image such as colour correction, etc. However, this means that we have image optimisation in the camera module as well as in the image processor.

Just handling image processing in the image processor is complex enough but now we need to ensure that the combined data processing is the right mix. Often, we may have to make further optimisations in the camera module processing which will then have an additional knock-on effect to the conventional optimisation in the image processor.

But after all that the result is in focus images or videos from around 50cm to infinity with point-and-click simplicity. Simple on the surface, but massively complex underneath.

LONDON, England -

1. Why doesn’t the Nokia N8 include a mechanical lens cover?
2. The Nokia N8 uses the largest image sensor ever in a mobile, bigger than many digital compacts, does this mean the noise levels will be much lower than any other competitor product?
3. Sharpness vs. detail, what’s the difference?
4. What improvements have you made in response times in the camera?
5. Why did you choose 12-megapixel rather than 8-megapixel or 5-megapixel?
6. Is there a mechanical shutter in the N8’s camera?
7. When shooting video, sometimes the scene seems distorted, almost jelly-like, why is that?
8. Does the Nokia N8 include image and video stabilization?
9. Why didn’t Nokia implement a continuous autofocus system for video?
10. There appears to be an LED by the Xenon flash. Can that be used as a video light?
11. The N8 uses Xenon flash for stills but why didn’t you include an LED solution for video?
12. What’s the flash range?
13. Given you have the largest sensor ever in a mobile phone I am expecting the noise to be extremely low especially in low light?
14. At a glance, images from other devices tend to look sharper, why is that given the N8’s Carl Zeiss optics?
15. Why did you choose a 28mm lens rather than the more typical 35mm?
16. With the 28mm wide-angle optics, surely there’ll be distorted images which will mean I can’t capture portraits?
17. The Nokia N8 provides only 2x digital zoom in stills and 3x zoom in video, can you explain why?
18. Can you comment on the actual measured performance of the optics?
19. How close will I be able to shoot still images?
20. The Nokia N86 8MP used a variable aperture lens design but the Nokia N8 doesn’t, why?
21. I’ve heard the sensor used in the Nokia N8 is the largest ever used in a mobile. Could you confirm the size?
22. Can you please describe the audio recording capability?
23. What resolution does the HDMI provide?
24. How well does the AMOLED display perform in bright light?
25. How does the shutter key feel?
26. In previous products, Nokia has used a large area for autofocus. Why the change to a more conventional small centre spot area?
27. Why didn’t you include features such as smile detection?
28. Are the red-eye removal and face detection systems the same as in the Nokia N86 8MP?
29. Can you comment on the recording capability in video?
30. Nokia have tended to provide very small file sizes. Looking at the file sizes of some of the images on the web, it looks as though Nokia are continuing in this way?
31. I noticed that in some images, even in bright light according to the EXIF information, the sensitivity appears to be slightly above 100 e.g. ISO 105. It seems strange to not use ISO 100 all of the time in bright light?
32. Are you able to comment on your approach to auto white balance?
33. Do you use any dynamic range booster with the Nokia N8?
34. Will there be a RAW output mode for still images?

Why doesn’t the Nokia N8 include a mechanical lens cover?

We take lens protection very seriously, while also needing to balance the capability of the entire product, not just the camera but also the size and design. Adding a lens cover would have increased the size of the raised area around the camera, especially with regard to thickness (something in the range of 2 – 2.5mm). There would also have been an impact to the footprint of this area as there are other components located here, such as the flash capacitor, loudspeaker and one of the stereo digital microphones.

The cover glass itself is multi-coated and is heavily scratch resistant. It passes Nokia’s tumble test and other associated durability tests. Furthermore, there are more and more applications becoming available which are integrated with the main camera, such as Facebook and augmented reality applications. These allow the camera to be launched from the application itself. A manual design would not allow this. You need to separately open the lens cover. An automatic lens cover would overcome that issue but such mechanisms thus far have required even larger footprints.

Damian’s Tip:

From a personal point of view, I am accustomed to wiping the lens in a circular motion with a clean soft item of clothing. The scratch-resistant properties allow this and the design makes it easy to do without it feeling a chore. I have seen many camera phones even with physical lens covers still showing finger prints. Granted, the risk is lower but there is no perfect solution, I’m afraid. One issue which can occur with mechanical mechanisms is a build-up of dust which collects in the recessed areas and because the opening is so small it’s very hard to clean. We find the designs such as that used in the Nokia N8 are much easier to simply wipe clean.

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The Nokia N8 uses the largest image sensor ever in a mobile, bigger than many digital compacts, does this mean the noise levels will be much lower than any other competitor product?

This is a complex area. As I said in my article last week, our target was to create a more natural reproduction of the original. From the still images through to video and the audio. There are over 300 different parameters we can tune. Many of these are interlinked so as you adjust one parameter, it has a knock-on effect with another and so on. Our belief was that we could create more natural images than have been possible before due to the unique combination of large image sensor and exclusive Carl Zeiss optics. We could have tuned the N8 with noise, detail or sharpness in mind only. In the end, we reduced artificial sharpening to very low levels yet have excellent natural detail, retain relatively low noise but which typically has a more film like look to it other than in very low light conditions.

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Sharpness vs. detail, what’s the difference?

Detail is how much information the image/video actually contains. On the other hand, sharpness in digital imaging is more about the processing that’s been used to create a perception that the image is sharper than the optics were able to resolve it – effectively fooling your eye to think it’s better than it is. It’s a technique used in virtually all mobile devices and many, many digital cameras. It’s the detail that’s important. If you like edges to have a crisp look to them you can create that in many image editing programs.

There is also a sharpening setting in the N8’s still camera, should you prefer this look. But you’re not actually creating any new information. The benefit of the new Carl Zeiss optics is that they naturally resolve very high levels of detail without the need for edge enhancement (sharpening). In fact, we’ve almost disabled the sharpening, it’s set so low. The result is no black or white lines around areas of high contrast as you will see in other broadly comparable devices, for example grass. I’ve seen grass from digital cameras with thin black edges. Grass is green.

Damian’s tip:

If you prefer the high contrast/super sharp look, use the sharpness setting. You can also configure this setting as your preferred default setting when the camera starts.

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What improvements have you made in response times in the camera?

The key differences you’ll note are as follows:

1. Shutter lag is now down to only 150ms. The average human reaction time is 250ms, so this lag is hard for us to perceive.
2. Viewfinder lag – the image you use to see on the viewfinder has, since the first devices, lagged behind the ‘live’ action by around 100ms. In the case of the N8, this is virtually zero. What this means is that – with the very fast shutter lag and almost zero viewfinder lag – it’s much easier to capture the precise moment.
3. Autofocus time is super fast – typically focusing time is around 350ms (depends on subject distance, contrast and lighting levels).
4. Despite the 12-megapixel image resolution, camera start-up time is slightly improved and shot-to-shot times are typically around just two seconds now.
5. Around 90 per cent of usage of phone cameras is for still capture. To reflect this, we’re trying something new. The camera always starts  in still capture mode. In most cases, where people want to grab a spontaneous moment, they will use stills. We therefore made still capture the default. Of course, there is just one touch of the display to switch between video and still capture.

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Why did you choose 12-megapixel rather than 8-megapixel or 5-megapixel?

This is an excellent question. We compete in an incredibly complex industry. We have to balance the beliefs of the majority with what we believe is right for our customers.

With the N8, we didn’t want to go backwards from the N86 8MP, only forwards [I’m referring to performance rather than megapixels], but we also need to be competitive in the industry. For these reasons, we concluded the only way forward was to do this properly and that meant using the biggest sensor ever in a mobile. This may come as a surprise to some, given Nokia’s early track record in mobile camera development, but it’s never been our intent to lead on megapixels. This is why we have consistently adopted larger pixels than those considered to be at the forefront. As an example of that, most manufactures have switched to using the potentially less sensitive 1.4 micron pixels in their 8 and 12-megapixel equipped devices. Whereas Nokia are still using the larger and therefore more sensitive 1.75 micron pixel sensors.

Until such time that there are sufficient improvements in smaller pixel sensors. We’ll be sticking with this approach for now, but sensor technology is constantly improving.

There are some benefits which we’ve taken advantage of with using this resolution sensor and one which you’ll be able to take advantage of:

1. When recording video – due to the high resolution sensor – we take advantage of pixel binning to reduce noise. By combining multiple pixels and combining one new pixel you effectively filter out much of the noise that would normally otherwise need to be filtered out resulting in a reduction of resolution. In reasonable lighting conditions, we’re able to completely disable noise reduction for video as a result which allows us to retain maximum sharpness but with very low noise. I’ll come back to this point later when discussing digital zoom
2. High performance digital zoom up to 3x in video with almost lossless performance (virtually no upscaling).
3. When viewing images on a large screen at normal viewing magnifications, because with a higher resolution image you don’t zoom in to the image as far, any noise that may be visible is reduced, as the pixels of the monitor display more than one pixel of the image. The more pixels they account for, the noise is less apparent. Factoring this in, it’s theoretically possible to shoot in roughly half the light level with a 12-megapixel sensor vs. a 5-megapixel sensor with similar pixel size and characteristics. The appearance of noise will be roughly the same.

Longer term, we continue to debate and discuss all kinds of interesting views of possible directions we could take. I still see lots of opportunities.

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Is there a mechanical shutter in the N8’s camera?

We use a mechanical shutter for stills, so you won’t see motion distortion effects. However, in video you will see this in some situations as you do even with high-end DSLR’s with HD video. But for most situations I believe it will be OK. It’s a limitation of the readout speed of the sensor. I expect – at some point in the future with new sensors – this issue will be eliminated.

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When shooting video, sometimes the scene seems distorted, almost jelly-like. Why is that?

When shooting video, like all mobile phones and the vast majority of digital cameras including some digital SLR cameras, a rolling shutter is used. For various reasons, mechanical shutters can’t be used for video. Furthermore, usually due to bandwidth issues, it’s not possible to read each pixel at the same time. A rolling shutter overcomes this by allowing each pixel to be read in sequence. For example, starting with the top left pixel of the frame and then reading the pixels to the right until reaching the end of the row before moving to the left pixel on the next row down. So, as you move the device, pixels which are in the bottom right corner of the image are being read later in the movement path than those that were in the top left.

Damian’s tip:

Smoothness is one of the most important aspects when filming video. Avoid sudden movements. Avoid moving at all, if you can. This isn’t as crazy as it may first sound. Next time you’re watching a movie, take notice of the camera moves. In most cases, you’ll see the camera doesn’t move at all. Instead, the director cuts to another view of the same subject/scene. If the camera does move they use Steadicams or a rig moving on rails with a dedicated operator just to move the rig. Of course, for a device which is always with you and fits in your pocket, such additional equipment and manpower is hardly practical. My recommendation is to concentrate on keeping everything smooth. Avoid sharp movements. If you can, think about what you’re going to film before you start filming. This will allow you to choose a framing and filming distance that works better for the entire scene rather than just the beginning.

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Does the Nokia N8 include image and video stabilization?

The Nokia N8 includes video stabilization but not image stabilization. For now, it’s not possible to integrate optical image stabilization into such a small module (compared to digital cameras). Digital stabilization methods typically rely on at least two frames being combined to create one clearer one. If the subject moves, you can get alignment problems. These also don’t work with xenon flash. Having said that, if you prefer to use the xenon flash it has a firing duration of between 1/3,333 and 1/200,000 of a second! Which will freeze virtually any subject you’re likely to want to photograph.

Damian’s tip:

Video stabilization works best in situations where you are trying to hold the device still or when the motion is more predictable. In situations where the movement is more erratic, it may be better to turn off video stabilization.

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Why didn’t Nokia implement a continuous autofocus system for video?

The Nokia N8 is our first product to use an Active Hyper Focal Distance system. We have used hyper focal distance before but in the case of the Nokia N8 where the HD video demands greater focus precision, we needed to improve the dependability.

Many mobile phones which include autofocus use driving systems which rely on friction to a certain degree. However, in some cases after the lens has been driven to the desired position, it can ‘slip’ causing a shift in focus.

For this reason, we use an ‘Active’ system where we constantly measure the position of the lens and readjust it to maintain the hyperfocal distance if required. The use of this system allows us to provide sharp and highly detailed videos from approximately 60cm to infinity, without the need for focus adjustment.

Other systems may provide benefits for shooting at closer distances but in our evaluation, we found this to be less dependable in the vast majority of recording situations which are typically at distances greater than 60cm. On this basis, we concluded that – at this stage – it is better to improve the dependability of the video performance across a wide range of conditions regardless of light and contrast levels and subject/scene changes.

However, we are continuing to investigate the opportunity of providing a focusing system which provides the best of both worlds for possible implementation in the future.

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There appears to be an LED by the Xenon flash. Can that be used as a video light?

The LED next to the xenon flash is optimized for autofocus assistance. It’s amber-red in colour and therefore is not practical for use with video. It also serves as a privacy indicator and tally lamp when shooting video.

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The N8 uses Xenon flash for stills but why didn’t you include an LED solution for video?

To get sufficient illumination from an LED solution over a usable distance today, you need to use dual LED. Current generation single LEDs provide little more than a tick box on a spec sheet. Unfortunately, we simply had insufficient space for Dual LED as well as Xenon, the area around the camera is packed very tightly already.

I know some of you will say you’d rather the device was a few mm’s thicker, etc. but it’s very important to balance the design against the functionality, otherwise people will say it’s ugly which will influence its appeal. But we we’re always listening to market feedback and therefore continue to try and develop the perfect solution. But for some, it’s just not possible. In a world of over 6.5 billion people that’s hardly surprising.

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What’s the flash range?

The actual shooting conditions can dramatically influence the effective flash range. For example, shooting in an average-sized home with light furnishings will provide an increased effective flash range as the walls and ceilings act as reflectors, therefore increasing the amount of light reaching the subject. In typical conditions, 3-3.5m is achievable. In open night scenes you may find this to be a little less. Indoors, in an average home, you may find 4.5-5m achievable. This is pretty impressive, considering we were able to make the flash module approximately 30 per cent smaller than the one used in the N82. The N8 has virtually the same flash power as the N82. However, the N8’s sensor is more sensitive and the noise reduction routines are much more sophisticated today. As a result of testing people’s preferences, we’ve decided to tune low light differently to the N82 and N86. Both of those products prioritized low noise at the expense of details. In the case of the N8, due to popular demand, we’ve prioritized detail over noise. Does this mean the N8’s images are noisy? No. No, what it means is that compared to the N86, noise is a little more visible but you gain a lot more detail and the images look natural. Compared to the N82, noise (when present) is much finer but the detail is significantly higher

Damian’s tip:

We use a pre-flash metering system to calculate how much flash is required for the main exposure. This system helps prevent overexposure, for example, in close-up flash situations. In auto flash mode, the time between the small pre-flash and the main flash has been shortened in comparison with the N82 to provide faster shooting capability. To provide this faster shooting means the flash may not quite reach its full flash charge in time for the main exposure. However, in auto red-eye reduction mode the time delay between pre-flash and main flash is greater. The result is that that the flash will be 100 per cent charged by the time the main flash fires, resulting in a small additional amount of flash power. Up to 3.5-4m you probably won’t be able to see this difference. But if you’re shooting at longer distances, it may be worth selecting the red-eye reduction flash mode to grab a little additional flash range.

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Given you have the largest sensor ever in a mobile phone I am expecting the noise to be extremely low especially in low light?

As mentioned earlier, there are over 300 different parameters to set and tune. Of course, it’s possible to use aggressive noise reduction to reduce noise, but this tends to reduce image detail. The combination of the new Carl Zeiss optics and large image sensor gave us the best platform we’ve ever had to develop and tune image and video quality. We used this to create what we believe is the closest challenge to digital cameras. We know that people want low noise, detail and vibrant (but still true to life) colour. Rather than optimizing for just one of these and compromising one or more of the others we believe we’ve created the best balance of these elements. But we’d love to hear your opinions on this.

We’re always listening and continuously trying to create even better performance. Generally, while you’ll see a little noise in the images, it’s pretty low. In low light we prioritized detail and fine noise. Many previous products including some very popular ones such as the N86 8MP and N82 offered relatively low noise but this ate into image detail. Now we have lower noise than the N82 but much more detail than both the N86 and N82 in low light. The noise levels in N86 are lower because we were using more noise reduction. In the case of the N8 we’ve reduced noise reduction significantly to maintain more natural detail. We’ve also been able to use the sensitivity to extend the range of the flash to around 4.5m+, depending on shooting conditions.

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At a glance, images from other devices tend to look sharper – why is that, given the N8’s Carl Zeiss optics?

There’s a subtle but important difference between sharpness and detail. Perceived sharpness can be created through edge enhancement image processing. But – as I said before – we wanted images which were truer than ever to real life and therefore more natural than before. This meant reducing edge enhancement to a point where it’s almost disabled. There’s a number of reasons for this:

1. You’ll be able to get some fantastic prints from this. Much more film like.
2. You can set a higher sharpness setting if that’s your preference and the new user scene mode allows you to set this as your default setting amongst others.
3. We’re finding more and more interest from those who have an increasing passion for photography. For these users, this reduced image processing (whilst not RAW) does provide much greater flexibility for the more advanced user. Over sharpened or too aggressive noise reduction significantly hampers such flexibility and creativity. Of course, we’d like to do a lot more in this regard, but that’s a topic for another day!

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Why did you choose a 28mm lens rather than the more typical 35mm?

When we were originally developing the camera module for the Nokia N86 8MP, our aim was to create something which would be more suited to spontaneous, 24/7, modern photography. Given the wide range of environments these devices are used, it was our belief that the wide-angle capabilities of a 28mm lens would provide greater creativity but also greater convenience. Furthermore, there are a few additional benefits when using wide-angle lenses. For example, greater depth of field. We take full advantage of this when recording HD video.

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With the 28mm wide-angle optics, surely there’ll be distorted images which will mean I can’t capture portraits?

No, the new Carl Zeiss optics provide extremely low levels of distortion (in the order of 0.1 per cent. Far, far lower than high-end compact digital cameras and without the need for angle of view depriving image processing. Generally speaking, telephoto lenses are preferred over wide-angle lenses for providing extreme close-up portraits, not just because of the perspective but also for allowing you to shoot further away from your subject. In this regard whilst perhaps not to quite the same degree, 35mm suffers similar constraints to 28mm. When shooting at normal shooting distances with the low geometric distortion, we believe it’s still possible to take natural shots of people.

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The Nokia N8 provides only 2x digital zoom in stills and 3x zoom in video, can you explain why?

In the case of stills, we capped the zoom at a point where we felt the image quality was still usable. But honestly speaking, going much beyond this only reduces image quality. Of course, though, there are on-device editing tools for cropping, etc. which you may prefer to use.

In video, it’s a slightly different story and this deserves further explanation for you to be able to get the most from it.

At the starting point (zero zoom), as mentioned earlier, we scale the resolution from the full-resolution sensor to the resolution needed for 720p video, 1280×720. Through binning, we’re able to reduce noise in video to such a level that noise reduction is actually disabled in normal lighting. This is great for all-round, daily use. Digital zoom between 1x and 2x is reasonably consistent. There is a little fall off as you approach 2x zoom. However, around this point, there is a mode switch. So, rather than the normal method, we reduce the resolution by the same factor and then scale according to the amount of zoom. There’s virtually no upscaling. However, when you extend slightly above this point, the scaling changes from binning to direct read out from the sensor to the scaling. The result is possibly a little visible noise in some situations, but there’s a significant increase in image detail.

We have a sweet spot around 2x -2.5x where the performance is at its best in bright light. The performance here is perhaps better than you would get with an equivalent optical zoom, because as you zoom, there would normally be a fall off in resolution – depending on the optical design, of course.

To explain a little more.

At 1x, we are using binning as do many products. The benefit we get as a result of the Carl Zeiss optics and large sensor is that we don’t need to add any noise reduction in good lighting in video so we retain a large amount of detail that is usual lost in the binning and noise reduction process.

The binning process is essential in handling the full frame sensor view down to the required resolution for 720p video at 25fps. The benefit of the binning process, though, is that it removes any noise that would be otherwise be present.

At 2x zoom, however, because we are only using a cropped section of the sensor, we effectively have more processing power available which allows us to process images with less detail loss, so the images at around 2.5x have more detail than at 1x. As the zoom then approaches 3x we then reach the limit of scaling. More than 3x would mean upscaling rather than 1:1 or downscaling, as we are doing up to this point. The downside at 2x above though is that we get a little more noise because we lose the benefit of the binning process to wipe out the noise.

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Can you comment on the actual measured performance of the optics?

In terms of stills, many camera optics (including dedicated cameras) often don’t resolve anywhere near their sensor resolution. For example, some 10-12-megapixel sensor equipped cameras can barely provide true 5-megapixel resolution. In the case of the Carl Zeiss optics we’re using here, the theoretical output resolution is so close to 12-megapixels that it’s not worth mentioning. However, in the real world after balancing the various multiple parameters it can come out a little different.

In the case of video, the limitation here is the binning process which most cameras do in video. In daylight situations, as commented earlier, we’re not using ANY noise reduction, yet in normal viewing I don’t expect you to see any noise either. The reason for this is that the binning process is effectively wiping out any noise we would have in the system allowing us to maintain as much detail as possible. So it’s the combination of the sensor and optics which allow this.

Damian’s tip:

Zoom to around 2x zoom in video. The cropping and scaling process works a little differently resulting in perhaps a little visibility of noise but enhanced detail. This can also work well in low light depending on your preference and the actual conditions. It’s worth experimenting with to see what provides you with the best performance based on your own preferences.

All the details: Nokia Lumia 800

All about our stunning new smartphone.

The specs; the price; the facts

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How close will I be able to shoot still images?

Approximately 10cm from the subject in close-up scene mode. Around 20-30cm in auto.

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The Nokia N86 8MP used a variable aperture lens design but the Nokia N8 doesn’t, why?

We wanted to improve the performance of the optics but were constrained by the size of the module. We therefore traded the variable aperture for superior optics. We compensated for this trade-off by incorporating an ND filter to handle bright lighting conditions. The newer, more sensitive silicon used in the Nokia N8′s sensor completely compensates for the difference in the maximum aperture. (f/2.8 in the case of the Nokia N8 and f/2.4 in the case of the Nokia N86 8MP).

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I’ve heard the sensor used in the Nokia N8 is the largest ever used in a mobile. Could you confirm the size?

The 1/1.83” sensor used in the N8 uses 1.75 micron pixels which, with its 12-megapixel resolving capability, results in a sensor larger than most compact digital cameras. What’s the ISO range of the new sensor? We’ve capped the sensitivity to ISO800. The default setting is 100. There are 3 manual settings which relate to ISO 100, 400 and 800.

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Can you please describe the audio recording capability?

The N8 records audio in stereo and encodes it using the AAC audio format at 128kbps with 48kHz sampling, it sounds really great! What really makes the difference is the placement of the mics and the new algorithms which define how we capture the sound. All of these elements combine to provide a far greater sense of the original environments ambience. One of the benefits is the ability to handle harsh environments where the sound volume is very high and relatively constant. I’ve seen/heard videos tested in a bar environment where there was live music. In this particular example, I was amazed at how the N8 handled the range of sounds. Firstly, the music was clear and free of distortion and second, there was someone behind the person filming who asked them what they wanted to drink and that was also perfectly clear!

This is made possible through the placement of the mics. One of the stereo digital mics is at the front of the product (just below the display) and the 2nd is placed at the back just by the camera. Another situation this works well for is when recording video with narration. You can speak normally. Your speech will be crystal clear whilst still being able to capture virtually all of the different audio elements around you. It works really well. Finally, we’ve introduced some new wind reduction algorithms. These won’t eliminate wind sound altogether, depending on the actual conditions, but will make a significant improvement.

Damian’s tip:

The digital mics we use are incredibly sensitive. It’s worth spending a little time perfecting a comfortable and stable grip on the N8 which allows you to start and stop recording the video without moving your hands across the surface of the handset, etc. as those mics can pick up such sounds. But with a little practice this isn’t a problem. You can either start and stop video with the dedicated capture key or you can use a touchscreen-based start key. After starting recording, touch based keys appear for pause and stop. Personally I tend to use the dedicated capture key. But if you’re using the touch screen zoom control, you may find it better to use all touch screen controls. We’ll come back to zoom later…

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What resolution does the HDMI provide?

Photos and videos are presented over HDMI at 1280×720 resolution. Approximately four times the resolution of previous TV connection options. It makes an incredible difference. I’ve seen comments from people expressing the view that if I didn’t show my images before like this why am I going to do it now? I think it’s down to one key aspect. In the past, your video and images still looked much better when viewed on your PC. Now that situation is completely different. Now I can connect my Nokia N8 to my HD TV which is the largest screen in the house in the most comfortable room in the house for everyone to enjoy the experience. I can even use a Bluetooth keyboard and/or mouse to make it even more convenient. Furthermore,  many people don’t have their PCs connected to the TV, so this is the easiest and best way to watch that content in all its glory on a huge screen. Not to mention enjoy the rich audio too. I’ve personally found myself doing this much more when visiting friends now too, because it simply works so well.

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How well does the AMOLED display perform in bright light?

In my own personal experience, I have had no problems shooting video and stills in even very bright conditions. Many of you have asked, “But how have you done that when OLED has been not-so-usable in bright light?“ There are two key contributing elements here. First, this newer display is much brighter than previous OLED displays. In certain situations, it’s up to almost 60 per cent brighter! And second, there is an anti-reflection film applied to the display.

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How does the shutter key feel?

OK, again a personal view on this one. Two comments. 1. Some of those who have had the opportunity to handle the N8 have commented that this has the best feel thus far of any mobile. Specifically it’s easy to feel a click relating to half pressure [Autofocus/exposure], as well as the full press, where the amount of effort has been reduced but not to the point that you accidentally take images. 2. There is also a touch based shutter key which, for some, may be a better means of avoiding camera shake in low light without flash. I personally prefer to use the physical shutter key, but I’ll let you decide, once you’re able to get your hands on one.

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In previous products, Nokia has used a large area for autofocus. Why the change to a more conventional small centre spot area?

We had a number of requests for this. I have to say the jury is out right now what’s the best system to use and we’re discussing options for the future too. Having been quite used to the wide area system, which I think has some benefits to offer, over the months testing the Nokia N8, I’ve become a fan again of this system for its speed and ability to pinpoint small objects. Of course, you can lock focus and exposure with a half press. The autoexposure is also heavily biased to this small area so if you do lock focus/exposure, the results are more predictable.

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Why didn’t you include features such as smile detection?

I’m not really a fan of some of the more gimmicky features and rather we focused our efforts on providing better pictures more of the time, which is exactly what we’ve done.

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Are the red-eye removal and face detection systems the same as in the Nokia N86 8MP?

They’re similar. However, there has been further development in both of these areas. Red-eye removal works in both auto and red-eye reduction modes. In red-eye reduction mode, it runs a more intensive version. This may provide a small increase in shot-to-shot time. The face detection system is now linked to the flash system. It compensates automatically now if there is a face detected which is backlit but within flash range.

Update (August 2010) : It was our intent to have a ‘light’ version of the red-eye removal system running in Auto flash mode. However, due to a small number of occasions where the performance was outside our target performance we have decided to continue to develop this for inclusion in a sw update. The ‘full’ red-eye removal system remains as planned in the red-eye reduction flash mode and in the vast majority of situations works extremely well.

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Can you comment on the recording capability in video?

Initially, the Nokia N8 will record and encode video as follows: 1280×720 HD @25fps using H.264 codec with up to 12mpbs bit rate. Stereo audio is encoded using 128kbps bit rate, using AAC codec sampled at 48kHz. We will be looking for opportunities to further improve the video performance in later software updates. Can’t say anymore than that at this stage ;-)

There are additional options for VGA 30fps and a mobile-sharing-friendly 3gp optimized setting. In addition to these, you can also reduce the frame rate to either 15fps or 5fps. This is to improve low light video recording capability when you use low light (15fps) and night video (5fps) modes.

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Nokia have tended to provide very small file sizes. Looking at the file sizes of some of the images on the web, it looks as though Nokia are continuing in this way?

This has been a contentious topic many times in the past and I can say this. There has been no product that I have worked on that has compression-based artifacts. Very recently, I completed verification of this. I captured images in various conditions using various JPEG compression settings up to and including 100 per cent JPEG quality setting, (which gives massive files, BTW!) Myself and colleagues then reviewed this at magnifications up to 300 per cent and concluded that based on visual inspection there was not even the slightest justification for changing from the current JPEG quality setting. The principle reasons for this are, I believe, as follows: 1. The human eye can’t see such differences. 2. Because we’re providing images with relatively low noise, our image compression is more efficient.

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I noticed that in some images, even in bright light according to the EXIF information, the sensitivity appears to be slightly above 100 e.g. ISO 105. It seems strange to not use ISO 100 all of the time in bright light?

On the surface, we understand this behavior may seem slightly out of the ordinary. However, it’s perfectly normal and is a result of some new image processing algorithms we’re using for the first time with the Nokia N8. There is no adverse effect on noise with such small sensitivity adjustments.

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Are you able to comment on your approach to auto white balance?

We have actively decided not to follow the technically correct approach here, which some purists won’t like. For example, when at the ends of the colour temperature spectrum, we don’t try to make things technically perfect. The result would be something that doesn’t match your ‘mind’s eye’. For these products, we believe this approach is much more important than being technically correct. However, there are a few manual white balance presets if you prefer to override the system still.

An example of this is when shooting under candlelight. The warm ambience created by the candle light, you want to retain. So we recognise these situations and then adjust the AWB accordingly. A red rose on a cloudy day is another example. You’ll remember it more vividly than reality.

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Do you use any dynamic range booster with the Nokia N8?

We do apply a little to preserve details in the shadows as much as possible. However, this is effectively a gain control so if you apply too much, you increase the appearance of noise in those areas too.

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Will there be a RAW output mode for still images?

The need is understood. However, sorry to disappoint but the N8 will not include this capability. We need JPEG+RAW mode to make this work, so people can still easily send images direct from the device. RAW on it’s own is no good IMHO in such devices. This is a lot more complex than it seems on the surface because you need to take into account the whole ecosystem with devices such as phones. You can’t just presume everyone has Adobe Photoshop. We would also need to provide some additional manual controls for you to really benefit from RAW.

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LONDON, England -

We’ve seen how, when taking still photographs, the specifications on the Nokia N8 allow us to do without some of the artificial image processing tricks that have become the norm on camera phones. In the case of video, we’re again combining the benefits of the large sensor and the Carl Zeiss optics but also with this new incredibly powerful graphics processing engine where we’re able to record at up to 12mpbs using the extremely compression efficient H.264 video codec.

Using this very high bit rate, we’re not seeing any compression artefacts, even fine background detail during panning. Also of particular note is some incredible work from our audio engineers, specifically new algorithms for handling a wide range of audio levels from the subtlety of bird song to the loud and harsh environment of a live rock concert. Words really can’t do their work justice in this regard. We’ll share some video soon for you to experience this yourself. To retain as much of the captured detail and fidelity as possible we sample the stereo audio at 48kHz and encode it at 128kbps using the AAC audio format. Even the placement of the digital mics in the Nokia N8 is unique. One being positioned on the front of the device, whilst the other is positioned on the rear. The benefit of this approach is a much greater sense of the original ambience of the surroundings. It’s also of benefit if you are narrating over any action as the front mic [the one on the display side] is particularly effective at recording very clear speech. There are also new algorithms to help reduce wind noise.

So you’ve recorded some great video footage but what are you going to do with it next? For many you’ll simply play it and enjoy it in it’s uncut form. But for those feeling more creative you’ll want to go further. For this reason the N8 sees a welcome return to a comprehensive onboard editing application allowing you to trim clips, add music, text and photos as well as transitions between each of these elements. Some PC’s struggle to edit HD video but this is done on a device that fits in your pocket! It’s amazing how pocket processing power has developed over recent years.

All the details: Nokia Lumia 800

All about our stunning new smartphone.

The specs; the price; the facts

Let’s consider the benefits of the sensor/optics combination a little further. In good light recording, we take full advantage of the high resolution sensor. Through the downscaling and binning process from the 4000×3000 pixel sensor to 1280×720 video pixels, any visual noise that may have required some degree of noise reduction is effectively filtered out, therefore allowing us to process the video with noise reduction disabled. This means in reasonable lighting you won’t see any noise in the video during play back. This has allowed us to retain incredible levels of detail rather than losing it to noise reduction. It’s also allowed us to implement digital zoom which is virtually as good as optical zoom.

Here are four frame grabs from a video clip (apologies for not choosing something more interesting for you to look at). Again, these are with development hardware and software (specifically, just in the last few days we’ve improved the colour reproduction, exposure and contrast since I captured these). The first shows the natural detail we resolve with no noise at the normal setting (1x) All the details are clearly defined. Remember this is video, which doesn’t need to be as sharp as stills since each frame is only visible for 1/25th second. Between 1x and 2x the image becomes progressively a little softer but remains highly usable. But at 2x zoom we’re at a point where we’re simply downscaling the video. This means there’s no loss of resolution which usually occurs through the binning process. I think you’ll agree the performance at 2x is really stunning. This performance is pretty much maintained up to 2.5x as you can see where it starts to tail off a little at 3x which is pretty much the limit imposed by the original resolution of the sensor. This is why we’ve capped the zoom at 3x in video to ensure you always have great video quality.

My personal recommendation is to use the touch-enabled zoom control rather than the physical keys. I find it provides a faster yet smoother control (at least with a little practice) I also recommend that you avoid zooming during filming if you can. If you watch a movie it’s relatively rare that you’ll see the camera zooming in/out of the shot. Video is all about smoothness, so think about what you’re shooting first and then avoid camera movement, especially panning unless you move the camera slowly and smoothly. The basic rule is to control the camera as smoothly as possible so the viewer is not immediately aware of camera movement.

1X Zoom

2X Zoom

2.5X Zoom

3X Zoom

Another area I wanted to cover was relating to autofocus during video. The N8 uses a system we refer to as ‘Active Hyper-focal Distance’. Hyper-focal distance is a specific lens focus position which by using depth of field allows the greatest range from near to infinity for objects to appear in focus. The Nokia N8 uses a 28mm (35mm film equivalent) focal length Carl Zeiss lens. This provides us with huge depth of field. But by using the hyper focal distance means objects placed between roughly 60cm and infinity will appear sharply focused.

The reference to ‘Active’ relates to the nature of how we maintain this hyper-focal distance lens position. Most autofocus camera modules in camera phones rely to some degree on friction. The problem with this is that the lens which moves for focus adjustment can slip after being driven to the correct intended lens position. This isn’t normally a problem in the case of still photography, but in the case of video can create problems especially when recording with HD resolution. To combat this problem, for the first time we actively monitor the lens position and then adjust it if required. The result is simply, video that’s always in focus.

The alternatives today are as follows: 1. Focus at the beginning of the exposure and then lock it or 2. continuously focus during the video. Unfortunately both have disadvantages. The first means if your subject moves or you alter the composition it will be out of focus. The second means the image in screen needs to be always be in focus. However, maintaining this without seeing focus hunting is very difficult. Add to this, when your subject moves from it’s original position, or there is insufficient contrast or illumination it simply won’t be able to focus and unless you’re lucky, your video will be out of focus. Before I continue, yes our system does have the disadvantage of only being effective for subjects which are beyond 60cm. We felt however, this was a worthwhile trade-off given the benefit you get in return, always in focus video, regardless of where your subject is, how fast it moves, how much contrast there is or how much available light there is. And you’ll never see it focusing or hunting during filming either.

Of course the ultimate solution would be to combine both of these in some way. Earlier in development we trialled a continuous autofocus system for video, but concluded for the time being that the performance didn’t warrant its inclusion in the product at sales start. Having said that, we are continuing investigations to find a way to get the best of both worlds in the future. Let’s see…

Having put all this effort into the audio and visual recording side of the N8 and provided some versatile editing tools out of the box, it would all be wasted if you couldn’t appreciate it on the biggest screen in the house, the one you spend most time sitting comfortably in front of, your HD TV. The Nokia N8’s HDMI connection provides full stereo and 720p output to your HD TV, so you don’t lose any of the original digital information in the process. A complete digital recording process coupled to pure digital playback. It’s worth noting the HDMI output also supports Dolby 5.1 surround sound (where pre-recorded digital media includes the appropriate soundtrack). It’s almost like a mini Blu-ray player in your pocket. I mustn’t forget of course about the Bluetooth capability to control your N8 wirelessly from the comfort of your sofa using a Bluetooth keyboard and/or Bluetooth mouse.

I hope that helps to answer many of your questions about the video capabilities of the device. Do feel free to leave any more that you feel need to be answered.

LONDON, England –

Not your daddy’s camera phone

But before we get onto the latest and greatest, I’d like to first share a personal milestone. Here’s one of the very first pictures I took with a Nokia camera phone.

This is my daughter Sophie as seen through the lens and 1-megapixel sensor of the Nokia 7610 on day eight of my time with Nokia.

Having worked for many years with high-end professional cameras and associated equipment, prior to joining Nokia, I looked up at the hill we had to climb and wondered, would we ever reach the top! Would it ever be possible to get really great images from such small cameras?

So here we are today with the Nokia N8, on day 2260 (as at 8th July). What a journey it’s been.

Here’s an image I took recently, with still-under-development hardware and software on the N8. Take a look at the detail on the wings near the main body of the butterfly. Actually, the N8 will focus closer than this (to around 10cm) but I preferred this composition. I think the background blur is really stunning. What do you think?

For me, this image sums up everything we wanted to achieve with the Nokia N8. Natural. But I’m going to need to explain in more detail what this means, as we believe nobody has done this before with mobile devices.

The old rules don’t apply

Since the early camera phones, one of the principal contributors to improved image quality has been the increase in sensor resolution. Improvements in image quality were relatively fast-paced. Along with increased resolution sensors, we’ve also seen big advances in CMOS sensor performance, as well as far more complex image processing made possible by increasingly more powerful image processors.

As has been briefly touched on in a previous article here on Nokia Conversations, we started the process to tune the image quality way back in January. Fairly early on, applying the usual techniques and methods of image quality optimisation provided incredible levels of ‘perceived’ detail and sharpness. Many people were truly excited by this incredible resolution. But myself and a few colleagues looked at them and – despite the reaction from others – we thought, “No, this isn’t right”.

Regardless of what all the optical simulations tell you in the design phase, it’s really only when you see the first raw outputs that you know whether you have something great or not. I think we’ve got enough experience now to know that even in those very early stages when the output from the camera is still incredibly raw (when I refer to raw I literally mean raw, these are first engineering samples with test sensors and no image processing, almost everything is wrong at that stage).

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The specs; the price; the facts

It was clear to us that the potential was there but we just weren’t making full use of it. We had this new super large sensor and these incredible new Carl Zeiss optics, they were crying out for a different approach. This is when we made the decision to go for reproduction that was as natural as possible, and that’s what we’ve been working on since. Images with incredible natural detail with relatively low noise but retain a punch to the images through the vibrant colour reproduction whilst still ensuring it remained natural and very close to the ‘mind’s eye’. This desire for natural reproduction is an all-encompassing one. Covering both the visual AND audio elements of the high-definition video recording as well.

The first thing we did was throttle back the edge enhancement to a point where it’s almost disabled. In video – under good lighting – we completely disabled noise reduction. I think it’s pretty unheard of for such devices to not be running any noise reduction. But it’s testimony to the great optics and superior sensor.

First, let’s look at what this meant for still images. But before that, let’s be clear here, all camera phones have moved on enormously over the last few years and I don’t mean that in terms of megapixels but the image quality you get. The colour and detail is hugely improved and – in good conditions – for the vast majority of people, it’s probably hard to not be happy with the images they capture. This extremely high standard only serves to make our job even harder. However, when I look at those images taken by many of our counterparts: at first glance, they look great, but then as I look a little more I find there’s something nagging me about them, their artificial appearance. Maybe myself and my immediate colleagues are too much like purists in this regard.

Apart from disabling various artificial enhancers, we also carefully consider how we reproduce colour in certain environments. Here’s two examples. In candle-lit scenes, you remember the warmth of the candle light. In snow scenes (my Finnish colleagues know this far better than I do), people tend to remember the bluish tint to the snow caused by the blue sky. In these situations, rather than correcting to a theoretical perfect white balance, we tune it to how you remember it. To achieve this takes time and many rounds of tuning, testing, retuning, testing, etc. This is not about colour saturation although that’s a method I see used often by others. That often leads to colours that are no longer representative of the original, despite their vibrancy. Contrast is another trick to fool the eye into thinking the scene is punchier and sharper. It’s a trick that works, however it can also lead to increased noise, lost highlights or shadows in the scene. Again, not a true reflection of the original scene.

All in the detail

Details is the final one we have spent a great deal of time improving and optimizing. As touched on earlier, we purposefully throttled right back on the sharpening enhancement. Right now, as it stands, we’ve almost disabled edge enhancement. This is another visual trick that’s been used for many years in digital cameras and one that works well to fool the eye that something is sharper than it actually is.

Here’s a section from an image taken with a device which I’ll simply refer to as ‘Exhibit A’. Notice the white halo around the hand and along the stripes on the shirt. These lines simply aren’t visible with the Nokia N8. (please note, all images were captured with still-under-development software and pre-production hardware).

I’ve enlarged these way beyond the point you would normally view them simply to make it easier to point out some things for the purposes of this article. What you’re seeing here is the edge enhancement at work. When viewed at normal magnifications, these lines that are drawn around objects by the edge enhancement process fool the eye into believing the level of edge definition is greater than the original.

The shot of the lake shows an early example from the Nokia N8 on the bottom and this time ‘Exhibit B’ on the top. Look at the top edge of the upside-down boat, notice the white line. What you should see are the pixels that relate to the boat and then the pixels that relate to the grass. Anything else is make-believe. Now look at the water. Here it seems there is detail that’s missing in the Nokia N8 image. This isn’t detail, it’s noise which has been amplified by the edge enhancement. It’s the same with the grass. The blades of grass are very fine. However, in the upper image the blades of grass are wider due to the edge enhancement. Some of you I’m sure will be thinking “yeah, so what? I don’t look at my images that closely.” Of course, you’re right: why would you? The reason for me pointing these aspects out to you is to attempt to explain why myself and my colleagues when looking at the images normally feel there’s something disturbing our eyes so much so that we wanted to do it differently.

This final image comparison is even clearer. ‘Exhibit C’ is on the left with the Nokia N8 represented on the right. See how much finer the grass is and how much more detail there is in the stones?

Through a lens, brightly

In many mobiles over the years, this has been principally done because of relatively low performance optics. Or because the combination of sensor and optics was unable to resolve the detail. With the N8 however, due to the combination of Carl Zeiss optics and the largest sensor ever used in a mobile, we felt it was time that mobiles grew up and stopped using many of these tricks to fool the eye. We wanted to strip the process back to the basics and deliver raw imaging power both in stills and video in a way that we felt hadn’t been done before. Some may say they like those enhanced pictures and that’s OK – but for us right now we want to capitalise on this great sensor and optics combination and create natural beautiful images and video which we hope you’ll really love as the default straight out of the box. If however you do prefer that ‘enhanced’ look there are settings for colour, contrast and sharpness you can use to recreate that look as a default if you so wish. There’s also a new feature where it will remember your favourite settings every time you restart the camera.

All of this relates principally to reasonable lighting conditions. There have been many questions relating to low light usage and how effectively the flash performs. Here are a few points I’d like to make in this regard. Firstly, where a backlit subject is detected and it’s deemed to be within the flash operating range, we fire the flash automatically to provide fill-in flash. If we detect the subject is outside of the operating range of the flash in a backlit situation we’ll leave the flash off. I’m not aware of any camera system that does this. Secondly on the performance of the xenon vs. the highly popular Nokia N82. In practice, you’ll find the flash range is greater than that of the N82. You’ll also notice that noise is lower but detail is higher. There will be some presence of noise as we’ve wanted to preserve more detail due to popular demand. We have a more effective red-eye removal system operating which is now running all of the time. And, of course, there’s also an improved face detection system which is linked to backlighting exposure and auto fill-in flash control.

On Friday, I’ll conclude this piece with a discussion of the video capabilities and settings of the Nokia N8.