Duo Camera and Photographic camera Features

Perhaps the biggest upgrade that can be found on the HTC One M8 is the Duo Photographic camera. The 'Ultrapixel' camera from the HTC One M7 can still be seen on the rear of the M8, but it's now accompanied by a dedicated depth sensor which y'all can run across in a higher place it. The sensor itself is zip more a 1080p, 2-megapixel OV2722 unit from OmniVision, which provides extra information that the device'southward software uses for a selection of effects.

The information from the depth sensor is stored in each photo'south EXIF information, and then every shot that's taken by the HTC One M8 is in JPG form, but contains everything necessary to apply cool effects. The data appears to take up an extra 500 kB of space, and there is no way to disable the depth sensor in automatic shooting manner.

That said, in that location are some situations where the depth information is non stored. If you accept a macro photograph, a photo in low light, or a photo with the flash on, the depth camera is not used and you can't use the furnishings. Similarly, if you apply filters or use a shooting mode other than auto, depth effects aren't bachelor.

The premier outcome bachelor on the HTC One M8 is called Ufocus. When you select to Edit the photograph and click Ufocus, the depth data is used to go on some areas in focus while others are defocused using false bokeh. It's possible to select the expanse on the photo that'southward kept in focus, which provides a Lytro-like focus-after-shooting effect.

Standard photo without affects practical

Nonetheless Ufocus doesn't work past capturing photos at multiple focus points, instead the depth of field consequence is entirely simulated using edge detection and the depth sensor's data. This means that if yous take a photo where you've missed focus, or you have a photograph where the surface area behind a subject field is unfocused, it's not possible to bring these areas into focus.

Despite these limitations, Ufocus is nevertheless a bully feature when used in the right conditions. If you take a photo of a person, y'all can use Ufocus to highlight this person by applying bokeh to the background. Capture a photo of a flower, and you lot can make the shot look more than DSLR-like with Ufocus. Or you can have a relatively plain photo and make it look more creative past applying the consequence to a sure subject or area of a shot.

Ufocus event applied with false background bokeh

While I got some fantastic results past using Ufocus, its reliance on edge detection ways that it doesn't always work. If y'all are trying to focus in on a specific object with a complex or unclear border, Ufocus ofttimes struggles. In photos where an object takes up the majority of the frame, Ufocus likewise struggles to properly simulate depth-of-field if you attempt to focus on a item expanse, giving an bad-mannered abrupt line where the defocused expanse starts.

You'll have a lot of fun playing around with Ufocus, only it's non the only feature available on the One M8. The Foregrounder effect uses depth data to utilize other effects to the area that would otherwise be defocused if you were using Ufocus. You can make the background of an prototype look similar a pencil sketch, for instance, while the subject appears natural. There's just four filters to utilize in this fashion, but HTC assures me that more than will be included in a future update.

Seasons applies a 3D-like falling leaves/snow/petals event, drawing on depth data to conform the size of the rendered items. You can save the effect as a MP4 video, but it'due south not one I'd use on a regular basis. Ideally I'd similar to meet the rendered leaves fall backside items through the use of edge detection and depth data, but this isn't something that's currently possible.

A 3D consequence can exist applied to 2D photos through the Dimension Plus effect, allowing you to tilt the device and see the photo at a different, although faux angle. The consequence is cool and seems to work well in ideal weather – photos with close upward subjects tin look very distorted, for example – but I'm not sure why you would bother saving images that show a dissimilar, simulated perspective of sorts.

The final three furnishings revolve around people. Stickers is self-explanatory: you tin can add together in silly hats and glasses to the image yous've taken. Touch Up gives y'all the ability to touch upward the faces of whatever person in a shot, by contouring faces and smoothing the pare (amongst other things). Simply the best of the three is Copy & Paste, which uses edge detection and depth data to add a person from one photo into another.

Imaging you're enjoying a weekend abroad with some mates, but Jimmy couldn't make it. Yous take a group photo only you don't want to leave him out, so yous select Re-create & Paste, find a photograph with Jimmy in it, select him and the One M8 automatically cuts him out. When yous're back in the grouping photo, you lot can add together Jimmy in, and even layer him backside other people then it really looks similar he was there. The feature works surprisingly quickly and delivers skilful results.

There are other pocket-sized features as role of the photograph editor, including filters, photograph frames and basic tools such as cropping, drawing and rotating.

Diving dorsum into the camera app, and there are several shooting modes to talk about. Dual Capture takes a photo using the front end and rear cameras simultaneously, while Pan 360 substantially takes a Photo Sphere as introduced in Android four.2.

Zoe way returns in the HTC One M8, just it'southward slightly unlike to the implementation in the M7. The camera no longer automatically captures images and video before and afterwards the shutter is pressed; instead yous now can either press the shutter to capture a standard image, or printing and agree to record a video. To differentiate Zoe style from the Video style, when yous printing and hold the shutter, full-resolution burst-shot images are captured alongside the video and combined into the 1 file in the Gallery app.

It's an interesting shooting manner and might be useful for photographing fast activity in detail, only it takes a dorsum seat to the standard photo manner with its capturing of depth data.

The standard photograph mode comes with a number of actress shooting modes including HDR, sweep panorama and a dedicated text capturing mode, to proper noun a few. But the all-time of the lot is actually the manual manner, which like on Nokia Lumia handsets, gives you easy sliders to command white balance, ISO, shutter speed, exposure and focus. When selecting settings in this mode it adjusts the alive preview in real time, which makes it very easy to come across exactly what the camera is going to capture.

I'll talk more near just how useful the manual mode is when discussing the quality of the photos themselves in the next section.

In the video style you lot as well get a range of extra capture modes, including tedious motion video at 720p, HDR video at 1080p, and a 1080p60 fast move manner. Like with the photo mode, you can apply filters in real time to video, showing off the processing power of the Snapdragon 801.