What you need to know
- TECNO recently held its Future Lens 2024 event in China.
- The company unveiled new Image Matrix that will use AI to enhance images using a multi-layered process.
- TECNO also revealed features that will enhance telephoto images and photos of fast-moving subjects.
- These features are expected to appear in a new TECNO smartphone in 2025.
TECNO unveiled its latest AI efforts during its Future Lens 2024 event in China, which aim to enhance mobile photography and overcome major pain points for users when taking photos.
At the helm of these is TECNO's new Image Matrix, which will be the backbone of a new imaging process. The Image Matrix will take a multi-layered approach to imaging, working to enhance a photo at each step. This, of course, starts at the hardware level, utilizing the camera hardware, display, chipset, and sensor to capture the image. The image is then deconstructed using as many as 10 different algorithms, focusing on various aspects of the image, such as noise reduction, focus, tone adjustment, detection, and more.
The Image Matrix takes that information and reconstructs the image using the TECNO Algorithm Process Stack (TAPS), which powers several different image processing engines to enhance speed, low-light performance, skin tone, and more. The final layer is the application layer, where the final output is available for use with TECNO's other imaging features for further enhancement.
TECNO is also introducing some unique methods that aim to improve high-speed image capture and zooming. The first, dubbed EVS Dynamic Snapshot, tracks and records the motion of a subject at a high frequency, then combines static and motion image data to ensure that the resulting image remains sharp at the pixel level. This feature is ideal for capturing fast-moving subjects such as athletes or vehicles in motion, promising a clearer image than you would get using traditional methods with some other premium Android phones.
Finally, TECNO's Tap Any Zoom feature utilizes a dual prism telephoto design to better frame subjects when zooming in. According to TECNO, a user can double-tap a subject, and the camera will select the appropriate zoom level to keep it in the frame. Additionally, the lens-shift optical image stabilization will let you zoom into virtually any particular section of the frame, keeping the subject in focus with minimal camera shake, even at high magnification levels, to ensure your subject remains in the frame.
And with telephoto sweep, users can stitch together multiple telephoto images for a high-quality ultrawide-angle image with out the distortion often found in traditional wide-angle cameras. This also makes it possible to easily recompose a shot while retaining a high-quality image.
In the image below, you can see how the photo utilizes both EVS and Tap Any Zoom by automatically framing the biker in the shot while keeping the fast-moving subject in focus. The result is a stark contrast from the image without these features enabled.
Coming soon
Earlier this year, TECNO announced a suite of features that it's bringing to its smartphones as part of its efforts to bring "practical AI" to consumers. This means focusing on features that will make it easy to summarize, translate, and create content for users. These new camera-focused features are the latest approach to using AI to further enhance its devices, which can help bridge the gap between high-end and low-end smartphones.
TECNO is well-versed in emerging markets by launching impressive budget Android phones in regions where consumers may not be able to spend exorbitant amounts of money on tech. The Phantom V Flip 2 and Phantom V Fold 2 are just two examples of great phones that undercut the competition by a significant margin, with the latter in particular impressing us with its imaging capabilities. By utilizing AI to enhance camera quality, the company is basically saying you don't need to spend a ton of money to capture a good image. Furthermore, the company hinted that we could see more AI imaging capabilities down the road, although for now, it is focused on bringing these features to market.
Fortunately, we may not have to wait too long to see these features in action. TECNO says these features will arrive sometime in 2025 on an upcoming smartphone.
