TrueHDR Released - True High Dynamic Range Comes to iPhone Photography

[news 28]

TrueHDR Released - True High Dynamic Range Comes to iPhone Photography - Published on 12/01/09

 

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Boston based Pictional today released TrueHDR 1.0.1, an iPhone photography app for creating high dynamic range images. TrueHDR combines two photos taken at different exposures and presents a higher dynamic range than a single photo can capture. Users can take two photos on an iPhone 3GS with the in-app autofocus camera, or select saved images, and merge them into an HDR image. The output image has vivid colors and details in both bright and dark areas.

 

Boston, Massachusetts - Pictional LLC today released TrueHDR 1.0.1 - an iPhone photography app for creating high dynamic range (HDR) images. TrueHDR is the first app for the iPhone that does HDR in the true sense, in that it combines two photos taken at different exposures and presents a higher dynamic range than a single photo can capture.

 

TrueHDR is designed to address the issue that cameras can only capture limited dynamic range in a single photo. In other words, when people take photos of a scene that has a large range from bright to dark, they often have to choose between the bright areas and the dark areas - if a picture is appropriately exposed for the bright areas (e.g., a sunny sky with clouds), then the dark areas (e.g., a person standing in the shade under a tree) often become gray or black blobs with no details. Vice versa, if a picture is correctly exposed for the dark areas, the bright areas get washed out and look like white haze.

 

TrueHDR allows users to take two photos on an iPhone 3GS with the in-app autofocus camera, tapping on a bright area to adjust exposure for the first image and tapping on a dark area to adjust exposure for the second image. TrueHDR then uses sophisticated computational techniques to automatically align, merge, and optimize the resulting image for display. It also allows users to select a pair of saved images, taken with the iPhone 3GS or another camera with variable exposure settings, and merge them into one HDR image.

 

The output is a photo with vivid colors and details in both the bright and the dark areas. It is often much closer to what users' eyes originally saw. In the current release of TrueHDR, output resolution (max 960x960) is ideal for posting to Facebook, Flickr, blogs, etc. Higher resolution is a priority for the company and Pictional is working to increase the output resolution for future releases.

 

Features:

* In-app camera - streamlines the process by allowing users to capture starting images at different exposures with the iPhone 3GS autofocus camera without ever leaving the app (NOTE: only applies for iPhone 3GS).

* Photo albums integration - users can select saved images, taken with the iPhone 3GS or another camera with variable exposures, as starting images for creating an HDR image.

* No tripod necessary - as long as users make an effort to keep the camera pointing in the same direction, it's OK to have some hand movement between shots. The app will align the images and match up the details.

* Sophisticated algorithms - TrueHDR uses state of the art techniques behind the scenes, resulting in the final HDR image.

* Inspect results - users can pinch, zoom and pan around in portrait or landscape to check out the resulting HDR photo.

* Share results - the results screen lets users directly compose and send emails with result photos.

* Detailed instructions page with videos - accessible within the app.

 

System Requirements:

Camera functionality requires minimum iPhone OS 3.1 and iPhone 3GS. Merging functionality with saved images may be used on iPhone or iPod Touch.

 

Pricing and Availability:

TrueHDR 1.0.1 is available now for purchase at a price of $1.99 (USD), distributed exclusively through the App Store in the Photography category.

 

TrueHDR 1.0.1: http://www.pictional.com/TrueHDR/

Download and Purchase: http://itunes.apple.com/app/truehdr/id340741871?mt=8

Help Video 1:

Help Video 2:

Screenshots: http://www.pictional.com/TrueHDR/screenshots.html

Gallery: http://www.pictional.com/TrueHDR/Gallery.html

 

 

Pictional LLC is a start-up in Boston, Massachusetts dedicated to creating computational photography and imaging applications for mobile phones. Applications and algorithms developed by Pictional are based on the solid foundations of computer vision, signal processing, and human psychophysics. Copyright © 2009 Pictional LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

 

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Yuanzhen Li

Founder

 

 

info ( -at -) pictional.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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