Droid video discoloration

[alphabuild]

Hey

I shot some footage outside the other day to test the video recording capability. I get home to see that the video has discoloration/red tint in the center of the video. Snapped a second indoors and the discoloration is less noticeable. Also included photo which shows no sign of discoloration.

Any video/camera experts out there can tell me if this is software/setting/hardware related. I am not versed in the AV world. Thanks!

(video may take a minute to load on your screen. be patient the links are working)

first video
http://bit.ly/4PaTvc
second video
http://bit.ly/7sp434
photo
http://bit.ly/50hPFt

 

[doctorclark]

Photo / Video Discoloration: Pink/Red Spot at Images' Center

I have noticed that in general, all pictures and videos taken with my Droid have the pinkish center haze that you see in your videos. Especially when I play around with the images in Photoshop offline (or even using the Photoshop app on the phone itself!), the tint is seriously non-uniform.

Has anyone else seen this? Is it a lens, CCD chip, or software issue?

I've searched a little bit, and found the HTC HD2 had an almost identical problem: A hardware fault causes HTC HD2 *pink* camera issues, confirmed - GSMArena.com news

Any experts out there want to weigh in?

 

[racklefratz]

Any experts out there want to weigh in?

I'm no expert in much of anything, but my comment on the topic would be that we're talking about a phone, not a camera. The business end of my Sony DCR-VX2000 prosumer miniDV camcorder utilizes a total of 3 charge-coupled display (CCD) sensors through a lens system at least a couple of inches wide. The tiny Droid camera lens probably only measures 2mm or less.

The "camera" function in the Droid represents itself pretty well given the sub-miniaturization that had to happen to get it inside the box in the first place. But if you want quality digital stills and video images, get a camera.

 

[doctorclark]

Any experts out there want to weigh in?

I'm no expert in much of anything, but my comment on the topic would be that we're talking about a phone, not a camera. The business end of my Sony DCR-VX2000 prosumer miniDV camcorder utilizes a total of 3 charge-coupled display (CCD) sensors through a lens system at least a couple of inches wide. The tiny Droid camera lens probably only measures 2mm or less.

The "camera" function in the Droid represents itself pretty well given the sub-miniaturization that had to happen to get it inside the box in the first place. But if you want quality digital stills and video images, get a camera.

I have a camera also, and I understand a cell phone's cam will never be as good as a dedicated digital camera. I just want to know if my Droid camera is a good as everyone else's Droid camera or if mine is one of a few glitchy ones.

 

[racklefratz]

I have a camera also, and I understand a cell phone's cam will never be as good as a dedicated digital camera. I just want to know if my Droid camera is a good as everyone else's Droid camera or if mine is one of a few glitchy ones.

How can anyone answer your question unless they have access to images from your Droid, and images taken from all the other Droids, OF THE SAME SUBJECT? Not happening.

 

[doctorclark]

I have a camera also, and I understand a cell phone's cam will never be as good as a dedicated digital camera. I just want to know if my Droid camera is a good as everyone else's Droid camera or if mine is one of a few glitchy ones.

How can anyone answer your question unless they have access to images from your Droid, and images taken from all the other Droids, OF THE SAME SUBJECT? Not happening.

Let me be a little more specific:

Does anyone else's Droid take images that have a red tint as demonstrated in the first two post in this thread?

 

[jodyberry]

Does anyone else's Droid take images that have a red tint as demonstrated in the first two post in this thread?

Easily answered - YES, I do notice the red tint in the middle of the screen. I actually notice it before I shoot a photo, but then it goes away (for the most part) when I take the photo.

 

[racklefratz]

Let me be a little more specific:

Does anyone else's Droid take images that have a red tint as demonstrated in the first two post in this thread?

Out of curiousity, I took a few minutes this morning to shoot some stills and videos with my Droid to see if it showed artifacts similar to the ones in the original post.

For still image tests, I relied mostly on a blank piece of white paper, in bright sunlight. I tried using both automatic and daylight white balance settings, since I've found that many times, setting white balance manually gives better results than letting the device do it automatically.

In this case, it didn't make much difference, but my Droid's camera does have white balance issues for still images. Instead of bright white, the paper had a greenish tint with slight mottled purple scattered all around the entire image. It did not have the red tint in the center as in the OP's images.

The short video I shot, also in bright sunlight, was better than the camera's stills. I intentionally framed a small white building in the center to try to show up any discoloration artifacts if any existed. I did not notice color issues nearly as much as with the still images. If you want to see it for comparison to yours, it's here.

Image quality from my Droid's camera can definitely stand improvement, some of which may possibly come through software updates. But it remains a phone camera, with a tiny lens and tiny image sensor, the latter of which is responsible for it's poor low light performance. When I need better quality imaging, I have other cameras for that.

 

[goingup]

My camera was not doing this new, then started having a circular pink halo in middle of screen when attempting to shoot a picture. Which would also be in the photo taken. Called tech and they are sending a new phone so its not supposed to be there. I would exchange it.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I just wish the camera in my LG Dare was in this device, it performed WAY better in every way and it was basically a joke of a phone in comparison. Oh well, I can dream I guess...