Tech Desk 
Jul 14, 2024
Google’s Ultra HDR (high dynamic range) is one of the exciting recent developments in smartphone photography in which camera HDR processing uses computational photography to achieve an HDR-like effect but the resulting image is still SDR (standard dynamic range)
Since Android 14, many Android phones have been capable of capturing true HDR photos using this format while many third-party apps with built-in camera functionality weren’t.
Google earlier this year at its developer conference announced that it would update the CameraX library to support Ultra HDR image capture.
Now, keeping its promise, it is set to make an upgrade by bringing the Ultra HDR format for users who were previously relying on ]third-party apps to capture photos.
Read more: Google tests auto-launch functionality for downloaded Play Store apps
It is termed as the ‘future of photography’ based on the popular JPEG format allowing Ultra HDR images to be viewed on almost any device regardless of whether or not they have an HDR display with the resulting image being more vibrant and having contrasting colours.
Devices that support Ultra HDR currently include, Google Chrome supporting it on Android and desktop both, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series, Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 series, OnePlus 12 and Open and others.
Moreover, the devices that use the Jetpack CameraX library will be able to save images in the Ultra HDR format once version 1.4.0 of the library is released.
However, the benefits of Ultra HDR format are hard to explain in words, once you use it you will get to know what it is capable of.
