polemic prompting: Apple patents iOS 5's exposure metering based on face detection, keeps friends in full view

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Apple patents iOS 5's exposure metering based on face detection, keeps friends in full view

Many photographers will tell you that their least favorite shooting situation involves a portrait with the sun to the subject's back: there's a good chance the shot ends up an unintentional silhouette study unless the shooter meters just perfectly from that grinning face. Apple has just been granted a patent for the metering technique that takes all the guesswork out of those human-focused shots on an iOS 5 device like the iPhone 4S or new iPad. As it's designed, the invention finds faces in the scene and adjusts the camera exposure to keep them all well-lit, even if they're fidgety enough to move at the last second. Group shots are just as much of a breeze, with the software using head proximity and other factors to pick either a main face as the metering target (such as a person standing in front of a crowd) or an average if there's enough people posing for a close-up. You can explore the full details at the source. Camera-toting rivals, however, will have to explore alternative ideas.

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras