Adobe 'Indigo Project' Help Take Better Photos With IPhone
JAKARTA - Adobe launched a new initiative called Project Indigo which aims to improve the quality of smartphone cameras, especially iPhones, with more natural photos and similar to professional SLR cameras.
In a recent research paper written by Adobe Fellow Marc Levoy and Senior Scientist Florian Kaimz, they describe the technology behind the Project Indigo application that is now available for the iPhone.
This app takes a different approach by taking pictures using lower exposures from ordinary camera apps, but captures and combines up to 32 frames in one photo.
According to Levoy and Kamiz, this technique makes the resulting photo have a not too bright highlight and fewer noise in the shadow area. However, users may need to be a little patient as the photo-taking process takes a few seconds longer than the usual camera app. But the result is photos with a more preserved natural texture without excessive smoothing effects.
Another problem that is often encountered is the limited zoom in smartphones that only use the center of the sensor, so that the photo quality decreases as it enlarges the image. Project Indigo overcomes this with super-resolution multi-frame technology, which combines multiple images with different resolutions and zooms to produce more detailed photos without adding a computerized fake element.
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In addition, this application provides complete manual controls such as focus, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, and a white balance setting similar to Lightroom. Users can also choose the number of frames they want to use in one shooting, allowing them to set the capture time and noise level.
A promising future feature is the ability to display photo-end results in real-time on viewfinder, so photographers can see and regulate lighting and exposure more accurately before shooting. Project Indigo can also remove reflections of light on objects protected by glass or plastic, a feature that is usually difficult to do directly on smartphone cameras.
Project Indigo is now available for free on the App Store and is expected to become an integrable technology platform for other Adobe products, especially Lightrooms, in the future.