Time to update what we learned about Windows 10 imaging features from WinHec PPT (read below) and add some more new features. The latest set of features is based on the official Windows 10 drivers documentation.
Digital Video Stabilization:
Since not all devices can have OIS, it is a very welcome feature coming with Windows 10. Not only video stabilization is natively present on Windows 10 for Phones, it comes with advanced feature of controlling “amount of stabilization” to be added. Per the document.
This is a mandatory capability. When specified, the digital video stabilization is enabled in driver\MFT0 and the default overscan padding setting is up to the driver. This flag is mutually exclusive with the AUTO and OFF flags.
This capability is optional. When specified, the driver that supports such capability will determine whether video stabilization should be performed and how much stabilization to be applied based on the scene analysis and the capture scenario. This flag is mutually exclusive with the ON and OFF flags.
Scene Analysis (Advanced Photo mode):
This looks exactly like what the doctor ordered for camera-centric Lumias. Setting Advanced Photo mode to auto, camera will perform Scene Analysis and will decide whether to capture in HDR, Flash On / Off or ultra low-light modes.
This capability is optional. When specified alone, the driver that supports such capability will determine whether photo HDR, Flash no Flash, or ultra low light fusion should be performed based on the scene analysis. This flag is mutually exclusive with the OFF flag and can be used with the other flags.
This capability is optional. When specified alone, the driver that supports such capability will perform photo HDR. This flag is mutually exclusive with the other flags except AUTO. When specified together with AUTO, the driver will determine whether photo HDR should be performed based on the scene analysis.
Hardware optimization hints (Image+video modes):
Again an advanced feature!! Driver will allow to set power, quality, latency in settings and this will result in detailed control of how camera behaves. Not only video and image can be captured together, even the quality of resulting photo / video can be prioritized over each other or both can be ensured to have good quality.
This is a mandatory capability. When specified, the driver should clear up the hints previously set on the driver and apply the driver’s default power, quality, latency tradeoff.
This is a mandatory capability. When specified, the primary use case is photo capture and the driver shall prioritize the photo capture over the video recording. This flag can be specified when the preview pin is in the stopped state to select a sensor mode in favor of photo quality, or in the running state for photo capture during video recording only. When specified for photo capture during video recording, glitch in video stream is acceptable in favor of better photo quality. This flag is mutually exclusive with the VIDEO flag and can be used with any one or two of the QUALITY, LATENCY, and POWER flags.
This capability is optional. When specified, the driver shall optimize the image quality for the photo capture and the video quality for the video recording. This flag can be specified before the photo capture (including regular photo, VPS, and PS without history frames) and/or video recording starts, or when the pin is in the stopped state. This flag can be used with the PHOTO flag, or with LATENCY or POWER flags along with the VIDEO flag.
Smooth zoom vs Direct Zoom:
This capability is optional. When specified, the driver will zoom to the target zoom factor specified in VideoProc.Value.ul gradually in a smooth manner. The number of frames takes to reach the specified zoom factor is up to the driver. This flag is mutually exclusive with the AUTO and DIRECT flags.
This is a mandatory capability. When specified, the driver will zoom to the target zoom factor specified in VideoProc.Value.ul as quickly as possible. This flag is mutually exclusive with the AUTO and SMOOTH flags.
We have seen WinHec event PPTs revealing many new Windows 10 features, upcoming cutting-edge hardware and even faster OS update plans. Now, a slide from one of the WInHec PPT lists the new features coming in Windows 10 imaging and it is an impressive list. The last Windows 10 for Phones preview build came with the “Lumia Camera 5.0” as the default Windows 10 camera but without 4K or Rich capture yet.
But seems Windows 10 camera will ultimately get the 4K capture, Independent Flash control, Zoom during video capture, square aspect ratio and even “Video HDR” feature natively as the list suggests.
New camera features in Windows 10:
- 4k video capture
- Independent flash control
- Profile
- Extended variable Photo sequence
- Face detection
- Variable frame rate
- Zoom during video capture
- Video HDR
- Square aspect ratio resolutions
