Editor's introduction: Mobile phone stabilization technology has undergone a period of development, and as people enter the era of short videos, the existence of image stabilization technology seems to be particularly important in an environment that can be filmed anytime and anywhere. Now, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has also begun to put forward normative standards for the stabilization performance of mobile phones. So, what kind of development trend will the stabilization technology go towards in the future?
Huawei, millet, OPPO, vivo and many other mobile phone manufacturers, in the flagship new product conference, will be anti-shake as a highlight explanation, with anti-shake function blessing, mobile phones can shoot a clearer and more stable video, but for a long time, there is no unified stabilization standard in China, how the flagship machine's anti-shake performance is, only listen to the manufacturer's introduction Is difficult to have an accurate concept.
Now, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued the first "Technical Requirements and Test Methods for Image and Video Stabilization Performance of Mobile Terminals" (hereinafter referred to as the "Method"), which was jointly formulated by the China Communications Institute, Aipeiyi Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd., Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Samsung, etc. for 4 years, and will become a unified standard for global mobile phone manufacturers to sell mobile devices in China.
The Method unifies the technical requirements, test environment, and test methods for image and video stabilization performance of mobile device camera functions. In the future, when manufacturers introduce the stabilization performance of mobile phones, we will be able to have a clearer understanding of them.
First, the ten years of mobile phone stabilization technology
At present, there are two mainstream stabilization technologies, one is EIS electronic image stabilization, and the other is OIS optical image stabilization. First of all, let's talk about EIS electronic image stabilization, the technology was born in 2016, Huami OVH and other big manufacturers, basically every mobile phone will be equipped.
EIS electronic stabilization relies on a software algorithm that uses the phone's gyroscope and acceleration sensor to detect the jitter amplitude of the phone, and then adjust the shutter speed and ISO to correct the effect of jitter on the picture. Eventually, EIS electronic image stabilization also cuts off the edges of the shot video to maintain stability.
EIS electronic image stabilization cost is low, so the versatility is high, but the effect can be imagined, because many areas need to be cut, so the imaging range is too small, and the jitter is too serious, the picture will be deformed due to stretching. Fish and bear paws can't be combined, and EIS electronic image stabilization costs are low, so not many people criticize its effect.
In fact, before the invention of EIS stabilization, manufacturers introduced a stronger stabilization technology on the mobile phone side - OIS optical image stabilization. The principle of OIS optical image stabilization technology is very simple, also through the gyroscope and other instruments to detect the phone shake, but it is not adjusting the shutter or ISO, but directly displacing the lens to compensate for the shake.
In September 2012, Nokia unveiled the Lumia 920, the world's first OIS-enabled optical image stabilization phone, marking the beginning of a chapter in mobile image stabilization technology. Since then, the flagship mobile phones of Brands such as Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and other brands have been equipped with OIS optical image stabilization technology, and have been combined with EIS electronic image stabilization technology to form a super image stabilization with better effect.
Today, OIS optical image stabilization technology is becoming more and more mature, and even some manufacturers have introduced five-axis image stabilization based on OIS, micro-gimbal image stabilization and other technologies, and some flagships have also chosen high-cost main camera + telephoto dual OIS optical image stabilization. Mobile phone stabilization technology is advancing day by day, but it has only taken ten years to reach this point, especially in this era when we need stabilization technology, it is far from enough.
Second, today, we need to stabilize even more
There are so many entrants out there, and the quality of the video you shoot is important if you want to stand out. There are two key factors that affect the quality of video, one is creativity, and the other is the level of shooting.
Not all short video enthusiasts are professionals, many people do not understand the shooting skills, and may even use low-end models, the sensor is from Samsung, Sony, Heary Technology and other low-end models, most do not support OIS optical image stabilization. Originally, they did not understand the shooting skills, the software and hardware of the mobile phone could not keep up, and the quality of the short video shot was naturally average.
OPPO is one of the earliest people in China to focus on the field of short video, and in the second half of 2019, it launched the Reno 2, which is known as opening the video track, combining OIS optical image stabilization with EIS electronic image stabilization, bringing the video super image stabilization function. Nowadays, flagship machines that do not support OIS optical image stabilization are an isolated case, but this is far from enough, because flagship machine users are only a minority after all, and most domestic mobile phone users still use low-end models.
Short video culture has spread out around the world, a thriving color, both domestic and foreign, are under the premise of removing spam information, to encourage the development of short video culture. The collective surge in mobile phone shooting performance will drive the development process of short video culture. Therefore, in this era of rapid development of short video culture, we need stabilization more than ever.
3. What does the MIIT standard mean?
In the development of mobile phones, shooting is indeed a very important feature, but image stabilization is not. Mobile phone shooting is also divided into two types, one is to take pictures, the other is to shoot videos. Before entering the era of short videos, it was obviously more important to take pictures. If it's just for taking pictures, then high pixels and outsole are certainly more important than OIS optical image stabilization.
In 2012, Nokia launched a mobile phone that supports optical image stabilization, and 3 years later, Apple's flagship supported this function, and the Android flagship popularized optical image stabilization later, which is why. If it were not for the rise of short video culture, mobile phone manufacturers would not be so positive about OIS optical image stabilization today.
Limited to cost, the vast majority of low-end models are still not worthy of OIS optical image stabilization, and even a very small number of flagship machines do not have OIS optical image stabilization. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the "mobile terminal image and video stabilization performance technical requirements and test methods" is to standardize the stabilization performance standards, if there is no method, manufacturers can casually brag and flicker, now there is a unified standard, even if the mobile phone is small white, you can also understand what level of stabilization level the mobile phone has reached.
The biggest role of the standard is to let manufacturers roll up, which is like DxOMark after the fire, many manufacturers want to make their flagship machine to achieve a higher rank, have jointly customized CMOS with sensor manufacturers, DisplayMate certification after the fire, choose Samsung screen mobile phone manufacturers more and more, are for an A+ certification. Nowadays, there is also a unified standard for stabilization, and it is a combination of large factories and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the credibility need not be said.
If you want to achieve a performance that can be boasted, manufacturers must work the stabilization function, at that time, there should be some manufacturers to launch low-end models that support OIS optical image stabilization. In fact, these big manufacturers began to develop the standard 4 years ago, the heart must have been already numbered, some time ago Xiaomi released the Redmi K50 series, 2399 yuan, in addition to Samsung 2K flexible screen, actually also fully support OIS optical image stabilization.
Under the limited cost, Xiaomi has given us a lot of surprises, but if you want to achieve the popularization of OIS optical image stabilization, this is far from enough, you must reduce the cost, manufacturers can be large-scale adoption. If you want to reduce the cost of OIS optical image stabilization, there are also two solutions, one is to make a breakthrough in technical processes and reduce costs from the manufacturing end, and the other is to increase sales and share the cost.
The first solution requires technology accumulation and R&D capital investment, and one bite can not become fat, and the second solution is obviously more suitable and more likely to succeed. The new standards of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have helped the development of the second scheme. Although the cost is high, in order to create a gimmick and make a name for the product, there will definitely be manufacturers following the example of Xiaomi and launching some low-end models that support OIS optical image stabilization, even if they are castrated in other places.
Under the competition of mobile phone manufacturers, there will be more and more low-end products to support OIS optical image stabilization, mobile phone lens manufacturers to achieve higher sales, product costs are evenly shared, and when negotiating order procurement cooperation with mobile phone manufacturers, the price may also be reduced, thus forming a virtuous circle. The progress of mobile phone shooting performance will also drive the development of short video culture and promote GDP growth, and I believe that the goal of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is to see this situation.
For consumers, the development and decentralization of OIS optical image stabilization technology is beneficial and harmless, especially under the competition of manufacturers, the price of the product will not rise too much, but it can provide many users with configurations that have not been experienced.
Author: Lost Soul Introduction, WeChat public account: Lei evaluation thunder test
This article was originally published by @Ray Technology and everyone is a product manager. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
The title image is from Unsplash, based on the CC0 protocol.