With every new device released, it’s tradition for someone (read: iFixit) to meticulously take it apart piece by piece. Sometimes, like in the case of the Pixelbook, an absolute feat of engineering is discovered. Today, a new Pixel 3 XL teardown reveals what Google is hiding beneath the glass surface.
The camera on Google’s Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL is amazing. Part of what makes it so good is Google’s HDR+ mode. Thanks to the Pixel Visual Core, that handy trick can be extended to other apps, and now one of our favorite camera apps is picking up public support…
One of the best parts of using Google’s Pixel 2 is the camera, and what makes it even better is the Pixel Visual Core which some third-party apps can take advantage of. Now, the Moment Pro Camera app is adding support…
As Google doubles downs on consumer hardware with the Pixel and Home, in-house chip development becomes increasingly important in order to own the entire stack and create an optimized experience. Those efforts might’ve taken a blow recently as Facebook poached an important Googler working on chips.
Earlier this month, Google enabled the Pixel Visual Core for HDR+ on third-party imaging apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. Today, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices are getting an update to the “Pixel Visual Core Service.”
Among other features and fixes, Android 8.1 in December opened up the Pixel Visual Core on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Today, Google is enabling its image processing chip for third-party photos apps, starting with Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp.
The camera on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL is the best in the business, and it’s just going to get better thanks to a trick Google had hidden from public view — a fully custom chipset that improves HDR+ functionality. That was supposed to be enabled in Android 8.1, but it seems that’s been pushed back to the second developer preview.
Last week, Google revealed that the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL contains a “custom-designed co-processor” for machine learning and image processing. This Pixel Visual Core is not yet enabled, but when activated it should result in better processing, among other tasks. A new report today reveals that Google worked with Intel on their first consumer chip.
Google is able to take such fantastic photos on the Pixel 2 because of a fine-tuned mix of physical hardware (camera lens and sensor), software (enabling HDR+), and machine learning. Even in its current form, the new phones take some of the best photos on a phone.
But the HDR+ process on the Pixel 2 and 2 XL uses a lot of processing power when capturing stunning photos with almost no latency, so Google made Pixel Visual Core, its first consumer-facing system-on-a-chip, which will help it process photos faster and more efficiently.
