Google Photos will soon let you edit Ultra HDR images more effectively

18 Sep 2024, 16:14 by Chris Thomas · Android Police

High dynamic range imaging is nearly as old as photography itself, the earliest example being Gustave Le Gray's 1855 work The Brig. Long after the mainstream adoption of digital cameras and smartphones, the Ultra HDR standard streamlines capture and distribution by adding a metadata tag roughly 1KB in size, called a gain map, to standard dynamic range images to define areas with increased contrast.

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Currently, most popular image editors disregard, remove, or otherwise impede the Ultra HDR gain map, requiring costly suites such as Adobe Lightroom to get the most out of Ultra HDR photos. An adjustment option upcoming with Google Photos 7.0 could do a better job of utilizing that gain map data, although it's not certain exactly how at the moment (via Android Authority and AssembleDebug on X/Twitter).

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Source: Android Developers

How Ultra HDR metadata applies to JPEG images

Ultra HDR support consists of two parts: the ability to capture Ultra HDR images (using a format called JPEG_R) using the primary front and rear cameras, and the default HDR display of those images in the device's stock camera app. A device must offer both to claim performance class 15 status, which defines the most high-end Android phones.

At the moment, though, there isn't an easy way to edit photos and retain the extra information provided by HDR capture. In many cases, even a simple crop gets in the way of or completely disables enhanced HDR contrast. Some apps, such as Snapseed, can get around this limitation sometimes, but HDR distribution and output remain inconsistent even then.

Source: Assemble Debug / Android Authority

Google Photos has supported Ultra HDR viewing for about a year (with indications of third-party HDR support following), but calls for HDR-friendly editing tools have ramped up significantly in the last several months.

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Why are all my edited photos saving as copies?

Android Authority contributor AssembleDebug recently discovered an Ultra HDR option in the Adjust panel within the upcoming Google Photos version 7.0. It sits next to an option called Vibrance, which reuses the icon from the current HDR Effect tool, implying it's been renamed to avoid confusion. The 0-100 slider inside the Ultra HDR adjustment doesn't yet have any effect, so details on its exact function are still forthcoming. The apparent change comes on the heels of a new Google Photos image mirroring option.

The latest update isn't available on the Play Store, but you can sideload the Google Photos 7.0.0.674947721 APK to preview features and functionality. Not all devices will be able to access the new HDR Ultra feature, and you might run into other limitations, because the build isn't quite ready for the public. We'll provide further updates as Google continues to improve the Ultra HDR capture, editing, and display experiences.

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