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Smartphones will overtake DSLRs within 3-5 years says Qualcomm VP

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Echoing the words of Sony president and CEO, Terushi Shimizu, Qualcomm’s vice president of product management and cameras, Judd Heape, believes that AI-powered smartphones are going to overtake DSLRs in terms of image quality in the next few years. His estimate is a little longer than the 2024 date mentioned by Sony, offering 3-5 years as a timeframe, but he believes the sensors area already there and that now AI capabilities will push it over the edge.

It’s a bold claim, from both individuals, but are they right? Well, I think context matters. For 99 percent of people who just want to quickly whip out a camera and take a half-decent photo on a walkabout, yes, they probably are. But can they really usurp DSLRs and mirrorless cameras for all situations? No, I don’t think so.

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Sony President and CEO says smartphone image quality will exceed that of (Sony) DSLRs by 2024

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Well, this is a bit of a surprise statement from Terushi Shimizu, President and CEO of Sony Semiconductor Solutions during a recent briefing. According to an article on Nikkei Japan, he made the statement that smartphone image quality will exceed that of DSLRs “within the next few years”, although an image accompanying the presentation suggested a more specific timeframe with a 2024 date.

If anybody would know about the image quality of sensors inside DSLRs and smartphones, it’s Sony. After all, they’ve arguably made most of them. But it’s not all about the sensor. He believes that along with new sensor technologies, computational photography will be the defining factor that brings the image quality up to par with DSLRs.

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Computational vs. traditional photography — Complementary, not contradictory

There are now two ways of creating digital images with a camera. You can either follow a software-centric computational photography approach. The other way is to stick to traditional hardware-centric optical photography. The former is used with AI to help enhance the final image, the latter relies on the quality of the camera’s components (e.g. lens, sensor). The two techniques may differ, but they are not at all on a collision course. They can complement each other and even address each technique’s limitations.

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Sony creates new “Sony AI” organisation to enhance imaging tech

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Sony has announced that they’ve established a new “Sony AI” organisation, with offices in Japan, Europe and the USA. Its goal is to advance the research and development of AI. They see AI playing a vital role in the future, particularly when it comes to imaging & sensing, robotics and entertainment.

Their purpose, Sony says is to “Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology” and that AI will play a big part in that. Sony AI will drive the R&D of AI through “multiple world-class flagship projects”, and they’ll be looking into the ethics of AI technology, too.

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Sick of dog pictures on social media? Nvidia’s GANimal AI lets you turn them into other animals

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Of course, I’m kidding, how can anybody get sick of dog pictures on Facebook?

Nvidia’s research teams have been doing some pretty crazy stuff with AI the last few years. This latest one is pretty funny from an amusement level standpoint but quite groundbreaking from a technical one. Nvidia’s GANimal AI lets you remap your pet’s “expression” onto other animals.

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Newest iOS 13 developer beta shows some insight into Apple’s new “Deep Fusion” AI photos

During the Apple event last September for the new iPhone 11 models, Apple spoke about a new tech they call “Deep Fusion”. It’s a process whereby 9 images are combined using an AI engine in order to create a single image to present the most detail possible. There haven’t really been any good samples of it out there, though, until now.

The feature has appeared in the latest iOS 13 developer beta, and now lots of samples showing off its capabilities have started to pop up on the web – most notably on Twitter.

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This camera can photograph a subject from 28 miles away

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Computational imaging has given us some interesting and useful inventions so far, from fake bokeh to capturing the movement of light. This time, scientists have figured out how to take a clear image from as far as 28 miles (45km), regardless of the Earth’s curvature and the amount of smog in the air.

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Light is teaming up with Sony for the next generation of multi-camera smartphone

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Light, the company behind the Light L16 camera which contains 16 sensors and lenses, has announced that they’ve teamed up with Sony to create the next generation of multi-camera smartphones. Well, we knew Light was working on something to do with phones, and now it looks like it’s official.

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Google’s Night Sight feature lets you shoot in the dark without a tripod or flash

Google Pixel 3 may only have one rear camera, but it relies heavily on Google’s promising AI to deliver high-quality images. The latest feature Google launched for all three generations of Pixel lets you shoot clean and bright images in near darkness – even when you can barely see anything with your own eyes. It works on both front and rear cameras, and you don’t even need a tripod or a flash.

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Why dedicated cameras will always be (optically) better than smartphones

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It’s September which means another generation of Apple iPhones. This year, the iPhone XS (pronounced “ten ess”) adds a slightly larger sensor plus significantly more computing power via the A12 Bionic Chip to enhance the phone’s image signal processing.

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