Google’s new smartphones the Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL boast the best smartphone camera ever tested by DxOMark as they got a score of 98 out of 100. Also, we have to keep in mind that on the rear the new Pixels have the only single camera while the competition have dual rear cameras and this single camera on the back can also take some amazing Portrait shots. But How can it take portrait shots without any dual camera setup? Let’s Find out.
Firstly the new Pixel 2’s camera has a stack of 6 lenses, each of which helps combat aberration and distortions When the camera is focusing the lenses move in and out of the camera body to adjust the image accordingly and make a sharp image on the sensor. There is also image stabilisation in the camera, so lenses left, right, up, and down to counter any movements. There is a combination of Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) & Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) which makes the image stable.
The sensor used in the new Pixel devices is the New Sony sensor which has Dual Pixels in it. This means that each pixel on the sensor has a “left and right split” which gives the sensor greater capabilities for depth of field and autofocus. So the camera sensor has two images, from slightly different perspectives one from left and one f the om right part of a pixel, of the world in front of it. With the help of Software Algorithms from Google and data from the sensor the Pixel 2 can create a depth map and allow for shallow depth of field or Bokeh effect in its “Portrait Mode”.
There’s also an HDR+ mode in Pixel 2 camera which uses an algorithm that allows the tiny sensor to act like a really big one and introduce greater dynamic range. The camera will take many images with different exposures like a standard HDR image and software combines several photos together and HDR+ also looks to realign each frame to avoid ghosting.
