incorrect camera API implementation? - HTC EVO 3D

Some of you may know about the Pro HDR app that takes high and low exposure shots and combines them together to produce really high quality pics.
Well the app doesn't work on the EVO3D and I contacted the company that makes the app. They reported that HTC has not correctly implemented the android camera API on the evo3d which is why the app doesn't work properly on this phone. Instead of taking one high and one low exposure picture, it just takes two pictures with the same exposure level. They also said this is surprising because HTC has the correct implementation on the EVO.
So my question is for all the gurus out there. Is there anyway to fix this or will a solution have to come from HTC?

Anyone?
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App

abdeviation said:
Some of you may know about the Pro HDR app that takes high and low exposure shots and combines them together to produce really high quality pics.
Well the app doesn't work on the EVO3D and I contacted the company that makes the app. They reported that HTC has not correctly implemented the android camera API on the evo3d which is why the app doesn't work properly on this phone. Instead of taking one high and one low exposure picture, it just takes two pictures with the same exposure level. They also said this is surprising because HTC has the correct implementation on the EVO.
So my question is for all the gurus out there. Is there anyway to fix this or will a solution have to come from HTC?
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Click to collapse
abdeviation said:
Anyone?
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm sure there is a way to fix this. Is the way to fix this simple or easy? Hard to stay. Somebody would have to do the initial research by reversing HTC's closed source camera app and find out if its as simple as flipping a boolean value or if the code has to be completely reworked.
I would think the developer of your desired application would be the most familar with this type of camera API code and would be the best to ask regarding how much effort is required for them to integrate support.
This device supports 3D. Sure this may seem like a great feature/advantage. The downside to the HTC EVO 3D support is: essentially a bunch of closed source, proprietary HTC code. The code is not part of Android nor is the code released anywhere. The fact that all this code is kept private makes it much more difficult for developers to work with.
The impact this 3D code has ranges from difficulties for AOSP based ROMs such as CM to support the device to third party app developers, such as your camera app developer. Unfortunately, the impact is broader than I would have initially guessed, but as seeing this device has been out since June (CDMA Sprint version) and being November now, many developers are still struggling with 3D support. Quite unfortunate.
Hope that helps!

I had success with "HDR Camera" if you're looking for something to work. I know Pro HDR has more features, but you can give the one I suggested a shot.

nope, the exposure setting just doesn't work properly on the evo3D. just try it in the default camera app. If you change the exposure, it just brightens the image instead of actually changing the exposure

Related

Possible to access cameras independently?

I wonder if anyone here is delved deep enough into the inner workings of the camera system. Would it be possible, for example, to control the exposure settings independently for each lens?
That way, we could do *real* HDR shots that would blow the socks off the iPhone HDR stuff.
Of course, it wouldn't work for anything too close because of the distortion, but anything further away should work great.
Thoughts?
Would be a good idea!
Sent from my Dual Core HTC 3vo 3D
Agreed, HDR on my phone has been my dream for a while now. I plan on taking some skilled photos in 3d, and this would be awesome
Sent from my Evo 3D
Speed Shooting
Would It Also Be Possible To Use Both Cameras For Speed Shooting?
Like Where One Would Take The Picture Then The Other Would Take It Again.
That Would Be Awesome.
This should be in q&a.....and I only say that because I opened this thread, not noticing the ?, thinking it was a working modification to the cameras. Might want to pm a mod and have it moved.
hockeyfamily737 said:
This should be in q&a.....and I only say that because I opened this thread, not noticing the ?, thinking it was a working modification to the cameras. Might want to pm a mod and have it moved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is in the correct area. Yes, it is a question. But it is a question geared towards a topic that will in all likelihood take some heavy development.
The ideas for HDR and speed shots (halving the time between pictures) are great and definitely something I would use if/when they can be implemented.
spartan15A said:
Would It Also Be Possible To Use Both Cameras For Speed Shooting?
Like Where One Would Take The Picture Then The Other Would Take It Again.
That Would Be Awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your memory card could handle it I'm sure it's possible. You would probably need access to the kernel source to do much of anything with it though.
Imagine a camera app where each core gets a camera hdw to read and process.
Imagine a camera app where we know what each core is doing !
@ OP - wrong section. You developed?
@ Spartan15A - check the market "fast burst camera", is frakking awesome...
BANG! from my shooter...
The Android Camera API only allows you to specify one Camera at a time so you'll need to overcome that obstacle first. Mostly you are limited to what the Android Camera API makes available to you. In some cases you can include additional non-standard properties that the vendor's implementation checks for. Another possibility is that HTC will release a library to make more of the Camera features available.
joe85 said:
The Android Camera API only allows you to specify one Camera at a time so you'll need to overcome that obstacle first. Mostly you are limited to what the Android Camera API makes available to you. In some cases you can include additional non-standard properties that the vendor's implementation checks for. Another possibility is that HTC will release a library to make more of the Camera features available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if the cameras are even accessible independently at all, or if it just defaults to one of the two.
Have you guys seen the Sony Panorama camera app? Is that using both cameras?
ioos said:
Have you guys seen the Sony Panorama camera app? Is that using both cameras?
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Click to collapse
Cool app - but I don't think it uses the second camera.
<stupid
delete
gthing said:
I wonder if the cameras are even accessible independently at all, or if it just defaults to one of the two.
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http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.html#open(int)
Try that method out and see.
creator2456 said:
I think this is in the correct area. Yes, it is a question.
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Why is this so hard for people to understand. You yourself just said its a question...so therefore it should be in q&a. Development is for developing...Not Asking Questions. To the op, nice idea.
Sent from my PG86100
I wish when in 2D mode the camera towards the middle was used. I always have a finger over the outside camera.
But yeah, HTC could really let us do some cool stuff with both cameras in 2D mode.
Moved to proper forum.
Not sure why this was moved, as it is clearly a development question (is it possible to access the hardware cameras independently - and if so, how?) but whatever...
Here's another application that we could use the two cameras for:
http://gizmodo.com/5822623/two-lenses-will-fix-compact-cameras-depth-of-field-proposes-samsung
Would probably need to go through the actual patent doc to figure out exactly what the method is...

Anyone working on fixing the camera app?

I see a lot of people developing their own flavor of gingerbread for the Evo 3D and that's awesome. But I don't see much improving other aspects of the phone that could be universal... like the camera.
I'm a photographer/video producer so this sort of thing is important to me and I don't want to carry my big camera everywhere. We all know the biggest issue with the camera is the green-tinted pictures taken with the flash. I don't even see a white balance setting for the flash available to choose manually.
I had read that there were a lot of other features promised but removed from this phone's camera such as scene modes (though I could care less about this).
Another issue I've read about and noticed is the jpg compression used for the camera. It's good for the small screen and web, but too heavily compressed for anything else.
Then there's an issue of when you half-press the shutter button, it focuses (good) then press all the way it re-focuses. The proper way this should work is focus on half press, snap photo without another focus on the full press.
The shutter lag is awful too, but I guess it's pretty much the norm as far as phones go.
Of course I have a wishlist of things to be added *cough new mytouch camera cough* but someone needs to figure out this green flash problem first...
gk1984 said:
I see a lot of people developing their own flavor of gingerbread for the Evo 3D and that's awesome. But I don't see much improving other aspects of the phone that could be universal... like the camera.
I'm a photographer/video producer so this sort of thing is important to me and I don't want to carry my big camera everywhere. We all know the biggest issue with the camera is the green-tinted pictures taken with the flash. I don't even see a white balance setting for the flash available to choose manually.
I had read that there were a lot of other features promised but removed from this phone's camera such as scene modes (though I could care less about this).
Another issue I've read about and noticed is the jpg compression used for the camera. It's good for the small screen and web, but too heavily compressed for anything else.
Then there's an issue of when you half-press the shutter button, it focuses (good) then press all the way it re-focuses. The proper way this should work is focus on half press, snap photo without another focus on the full press.
The shutter lag is awful too, but I guess it's pretty much the norm as far as phones go.
Of course I have a wishlist of things to be added *cough new mytouch camera cough* but someone needs to figure out this green flash problem first...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have very little professional photography experience and def don't have the eye to pick up on the color differences as they appear very subtle to me.
are there any camera apps in the market which implement some of the features you've listed?
as far as modifying the htc camera apk file, it is not open sourced so all work will have to be done through reverse engineering.
the compression setting was mentioned a few days ago in a thread here and i did research it in the AOSP version of the camera apk which is open sourced. i was able to find the line with the compression setting and it should be fairly simple to modifying the settings panel to provide an option for the user to adjust this. all the info is in my post on that thread.
if you wanted to post up your wish list of camera features, or contact some of the camera app devs in the market with your feature list, given you have a professional photography background, i would think they would be open to your suggestions.
Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize it would take so much reverse engineering there. And yes, some photos with the flash are harder to tell the off white balance, but I stopped using the flash and never taking night pics with this phone... Day time photos are awesome if not for the compression.
I haven't had much luck in finding any camera apps yet, hasn't occurred to me really. But I do love HDR Pro for the hdr pics - if anyone's interested in experimenting with that (takes a couple pics in dif exposures then combines them for a more natural and detailed photo)
I guess I'll have to wait to see if HTC does anything more with it or search for an alternative. Thanks though.
It's a phone. You'll never get true professional quality photos from a phone no matter what app you use. As a photographer you know that...f-stops, aperture, lenses and all the other stuff that photographers talk about can't really be changed on a phone's camera. To really get professional quality photos and video, even though phone cameras have gotten very good, you need to use the right equipment.
ranger61878 said:
It's a phone. You'll never get true professional quality photos from a phone no matter what app you use. As a photographer you know that...f-stops, aperture, lenses and all the other stuff that photographers talk about can't really be changed on a phone's camera. To really get professional quality photos and video, even though phone cameras have gotten very good, you need to use the right equipment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right but that's not my complaint. As I stated, my biggest gripe is the green tinted photos with the flash and compression. There are features I'd like to see from the latest mytouch camera (native hdr, no shutter lag - which is done with a constant image stream or something like that, etc)
you can have some things improved with the software side of things, but yes, hardware is a limitation and I'm not expecting this to replace a professional camera.
gk1984 said:
Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize it would take so much reverse engineering there. And yes, some photos with the flash are harder to tell the off white balance, but I stopped using the flash and never taking night pics with this phone... Day time photos are awesome if not for the compression.
I haven't had much luck in finding any camera apps yet, hasn't occurred to me really. But I do love HDR Pro for the hdr pics - if anyone's interested in experimenting with that (takes a couple pics in dif exposures then combines them for a more natural and detailed photo)
I guess I'll have to wait to see if HTC does anything more with it or search for an alternative. Thanks though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used HDR pro. I've also used Vignette which was my favorite camera app on the EVO 4G. It works on the 3D but of course you can only take 2D pictures with any of the third party cameras...so far.
On the HTC website/forum they do acknowledge the issues with the camera and say they are working on an update to correct them. I guess we'll see if that ever comes to fruition.

Does HDR actually work?

Quick question. I've tried the camera mods on here and even attempted the Amaze camera app floating around the GSM page (I'm CDMA) just to play around. I've been using Synergy for a while now and maybe it's just that ROM but...
Does the HDR feature actually work? It takes pictures fine, says processing, but it's just a normal photo. HDR pics are supposed to at the very least use image mapping to lighten the dark areas and darken the light areas to even the photo out. True HDR snaps 3 pictures in different exposures to achieve this. It's just bugging me...
Wondering the same thing.
Via My HTC Evo 3D On The Now Network From Sprint.
gk1984 said:
Quick question. I've tried the camera mods on here and even attempted the Amaze camera app floating around the GSM page (I'm CDMA) just to play around. I've been using Synergy for a while now and maybe it's just that ROM but...
Does the HDR feature actually work? It takes pictures fine, says processing, but it's just a normal photo. HDR pics are supposed to at the very least use image mapping to lighten the dark areas and darken the light areas to even the photo out. True HDR snaps 3 pictures in different exposures to achieve this. It's just bugging me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't, I think there is something kernel deep that needs to be present. If someone can get a hold of a sensation kernel & compile some of the added extras (ZSL, HDR, etc.) Into the EVO 3D kernel, It might work.
Thanks for clearing that up. I hope someone works those in.
There are too many cool things I want from the sensation. Not fair! It's so similar yet they have so many neat little things.
Zero Shutter Lag code in their kernels.
Ability to OC GPU.
HDR that works. Not fair.
felacio said:
There are too many cool things I want from the sensation. Not fair! It's so similar yet they have so many neat little things.
Zero Shutter Lag code in their kernels.
Ability to OC GPU.
HDR that works. Not fair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That I'm sure one of our developers can do that one now but honestly I haven't run across any game/app that taxes the GPU. It'd still like to see what it looks like though.
But yeah, we need a kernel dev to work some magic with getting the drivers.

[Request] Port Amaze 4G camera apk?

The Amaze has a VERY nice camera app, beats our stock app in a few ways. I searched and found it had been ported to the Evo 3D, the graphics were a little screwy, and it FC'S when you take a pic.
Anyone willing and able to port this, fix the graphics and fonts and get it to work?
What's different or better?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
More bells and whistles mostly, a LOT more scenes to choose from, a higher ISO setting, also, the Evo 3D guys are claiming much improved pic quality. Plus, options are good I THINK its the same sensor in ours and the Amaze?
you could just improve the stock camera app give me a couple of minutes and ill make a commit to my svn with a better camera app
So far I'm not a fan of the stock camera app.... no metering option, ISO only to 800, most of the scenes seem worthless. The picture adjustments change too severely. But mostly, it ruins pics by defaulting to way too high ISO, and too much saturation.
I've been using Vignette and getting MUCH better results.
You can pull the APK from any of their roms and try to install it, you might have to wait until we have root access and push it though.
def agree the camera has room for improvement
the worst thing with the stock app has to be the utterly ridiculous white balance.... NONE of the options give a result that is anywhere near correct in artificial lighting.
I heard in all the reviews the sensor was improved, but i dont see how over my thunderbolt or incredible2. Cant wait til this whole country is covered in 4g so i dont need a new sim card everytime i use a non 4g phone, utterly wasteful
The sensor DOES seem to be much improved. I took a video last night in very low light that my Dinc NEVER would have been able to get. It would have been a blurry mess. I've gotten some good low light pics too. But I've been using Vignette which blows the stock camera app away in both picture quality and number of options. It was my kids birthday yesterday, we took her to Chuck E Cheese, forgot to bring our point and shoot, but the Rez made a more than adequate substitute....
for anyone not impressed with this camera please do yourself a favor and try some alternate software....
This thread is in the wrong forum.
if you were to take a 13mp camera for example from the droid razr hd in china, and pop it in the rezound, would it work? or would you need programming for it?
pwrdbykyank said:
if you were to take a 13mp camera for example from the droid razr hd in china, and pop it in the rezound, would it work? or would you need programming for it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope.....needs kernel support...the libraries need to support it as well
*bump*
Still holding out hope for a ported Amaze camera app or an improved stock app...
EDIT: for what its worth, the camera hardware is pretty decent. I've been using Vignette as my primary camera app and consistently get better results than the stock app. It also has many more options and adjustments available.
The downside is it is slow, clunky, and not well integrated like the stock app. I find I have to constantly babysit the settings to get the really good results, and getting to the gallery or sending messages requires leaving the app as the built in "shortcuts" don't work correctly.
The evo 3d apk works but takes really screwed up pictures
I rooted and pushed the amaze one and it wouldn't show up in Apps. I tried installing it from apk, and it fails after like 1 second of trying to install
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
weird.... I got one that was ported from the Amaze FOR the 3D, it installs from apk, launches and works but FC's when trying to save a picture.
*bump* since it was moved and because I KNOW some one out there could easily do this...

Why can't the camera have BOTH of best worlds?

The camera's manual mode is darn good. After som shooting, I can see that. It's especially good for stills.
BUT that auto mode is average to not good. I hear some chatter that this camera is for content creators --- those who don't want just auto mode.
I guess the question is --- why can't we have it both ways? What am I missing? Why can't auto jpegs be processed well (pixel-like, for those want it), along with a great manual features? My ILC can do both --- and it's only got one sensor. So, what gives here? I'm just not sure why we need to compromise.
Put simply, there are some situations where I want to shoot manual and some that I just want to shoot in P&S mode.
The best picture isn't always technically the best one, but rather what can be caught in focus in the frame. Seems reasonable to me.
You can use Google Camera for HDR+ Auto Mode. It also generate Raw files for post-processing if jpeg is not good enough.
Link for you: https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/
For example: photo with more colors is hdr+ auto mode. Other is raw with snapseed.
Which port do you recommend??? Thanks much.
coldbeverage said:
The camera's manual mode is darn good. After som shooting, I can see that. It's especially good for stills.
BUT that auto mode is average to not good. I hear some chatter that this camera is for content creators --- those who don't want just auto mode.
I guess the question is --- why can't we have it both ways? What am I missing? Why can't auto jpegs be processed well (pixel-like, for those want it), along with a great manual features? My ILC can do both --- and it's only got one sensor. So, what gives here? I'm just not sure why we need to compromise.
Put simply, there are some situations where I want to shoot manual and some that I just want to shoot in P&S mode.
The best picture isn't always technically the best one, but rather what can be caught in focus in the frame. Seems reasonable to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your ILC is a dedicated camera. Everything in it is designed for one job and one job only, to produce the best image possible with the processing chips and jpg engines all dedicated to this end. That's all it does, that whole box. A cellphone is a jack of all trades and there's a saying about jack of all trades, master of none. At no point would I ever put a current cellphone up against a current dedicated camera for imaging. The camera will win every time. Cellphones have encouraged an attitude of good enough when in reality, we know it isn't. To be certain, cellphones these days do a lot better than the first DSLRs and definitely better than my first digital camera.
Problem is that a cellphone is literally everything crammed into one tiny space. Music player, computer, internet modem, phone, television screen, video camera, and camera.... er, make that cameras. All of that screaming for limited space and resources, battery and processors. A dedicated camera is one sensor and it is usually much larger than any cellphone camera sensor. That one sensor usually has room to breath, literally, to help keep it from overheating and not stress the hardware. Cellphones don't get that luxury. A dedicated camera has dedicated AF systems, often times an entirely dedicated set of sensors just for that. Metering is also an entirely separate area of development and testing.
So while we have been lulled into thinking cellphones are great cameras, in reality, they aren't. There's still a lot of times that it is best to have a dedicated camera.
Right, agreed, but it seems to often come down to a software issue in the cameras. Have full manual controls for manual purposes and have good auto processing. Or, am I still missing the point? I could be very wrong here.
coldbeverage said:
Right, agreed, but it seems to often come down to a software issue in the cameras. Have full manual controls for manual purposes and have good auto processing. Or, am I still missing the point? I could be very wrong here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, software will be the same problem. For a dedicated camera company, you have an entire company coming up with the engines and algo's going into the camera. Versus a cellphone company having to split their development between a lot of teams but they're going to be pretty small and at best, just able to tweak previous versions of software for their small corner of the device. The company I work for does software for a lot of various things a pharmacy might want to do. We have around 4 devs per team to pull off all the things in a pharmacy. Whereas there are some companies out there that do just one of the things we do and dedicate a much larger team to it. (Up to 100 people working on one piece of software vs our overall team of maybe 10.) That's the difference between a cellphone and a dedicated camera.
coldbeverage said:
Which port do you recommend??? Thanks much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latest stable port in my link. You have to test some settings to get the best result. Also I hear that Oreo version has improved camera.
starrynighthn said:
Latest stable port in my link. You have to test some settings to get the best result. Also I hear that Oreo version has improved camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. A couple of them work. Any advice on settings? I found some, but curious if you got something better.
CHH2 said:
Again, software will be the same problem. For a dedicated camera company, you have an entire company coming up with the engines and algo's going into the camera. Versus a cellphone company having to split their development between a lot of teams but they're going to be pretty small and at best, just able to tweak previous versions of software for their small corner of the device. The company I work for does software for a lot of various things a pharmacy might want to do. We have around 4 devs per team to pull off all the things in a pharmacy. Whereas there are some companies out there that do just one of the things we do and dedicate a much larger team to it. (Up to 100 people working on one piece of software vs our overall team of maybe 10.) That's the difference between a cellphone and a dedicated camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually curious if there's any way to adjust LG's Auto settings. I think from what I've heard, the most common issues are that the photos come out over-exposed and over-processed and smoothed out. Is there any way to go into the LG's software and tone down the exposure brightness and smoothing a bit? I'm sure I'm oversimplifying it but I wonder if there is some sort of setting values we can change so that way everything else remains the same.

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