Google introduces the new Pixel 6 camera, considered the most comprehensive smartphone camera – to ensure that all skin tones are rendered the same

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – We all try to get the perfect picture to save a memory or post on social media, but it turns out that not all phones capture all skin tones equally.

There’s nothing worse than posing for a photo and then seeing something less than flattering.

For many smartphone users with darker skin tones, this often means that they hardly have to appear in pictures or heavily edit photos before sharing them with friends or posting them on social media.

But even when users with more heathered skin edit images to add highlights, increase saturation, or limit shadows, the result is often a gray, almost “ashy” look – a less accurate representation of the person in front of the camera.

“There’s a bias about whether it’s film photography, definitely digital photography. And that bias favors lighter skinned people rather than darker skinned people,” said Patrick Holland, senior editor at technology and consumer electronics reviewer CNET.

Holland said all smartphones have gotten better at most light settings in the past few years, but believes the Pixel 6 is a big improvement.

The Pixel 6 developed by Google is now billed as the most complete smartphone camera, but is it?

“In short, yes,” said Holland.

The new line of Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, released late last month, introduces Google’s new “Real Tone” technology, which was developed to remove long-standing prejudices against lighter skin in photography.

“I think a lot of that shows in technology, when you’re in a room with very creative, very smart people. And you see a lot of people who look, the color of my skin, you have to wonder how much of that affects the things they program, “said Holland.

Florian Koenigsberger heads Google’s Image Equity Initiative and says the tech giant spent four years developing these new tools.

The company has teamed up with 18 cinematographers and colorists known for taking pictures of people of color in their perfect hue.

“The mission of our image equality work is to ensure that we provide first-class camera and picture experiences for people of color, especially those with darker skin tones,” said Koenigsberger.

But what does that mean to you when it’s time to take a selfie?

With Holland as photographer and ABC7 News Executive Producer Mariel and videographer JC as well as race and culture reporter Julian Glover as models, we put the latest smartphones to the test under difficult lighting conditions.

We took a number of photos with the Pixel 6, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and Apple’s latest offering, the iPhone 13 Pro.

First of all, how well does the camera juggle low lighting and balance two different complexions?

“In that case, you can find Julian’s face straight away – it’s pretty impressive,” said Holland.

The Pixel 6 took a nice looking photo with even skin tones and few shadows on Mariel and Julian’s faces.

The S21 images were a little softer and bluer, with the iPhone 13 Pro image showing deeper shadows and a slightly darker look.

Julian and Mariel preferred the Pixel 6 here.

“It is the sum of the improvements to our models with automatic exposure and automatic white balance that determine the brightness and color in a portrait, as well as changes to models that run on part of the hardware,” says Koenigsberger, explaining the technology. “For example, our facial recognition models that see a face in an image can now recognize a wider variety of faces.”

Next, we wanted to see how the phones deal with a variety of skin tones in an image while standing in front of a window to create a difficult to photograph “backlit” scenario where there is more light behind the subject than in front of the subject Subject.

SCROLL: Photos compare the camera quality between Apple, Samsung and Google smartphones

JC and Mariel show up well in the Galaxy S21 picture, but Julian’s face was covered in shadows.

In the iPhone picture, it threw a blue hue on all three “models” and washed out Mariel’s face, which was trying to bring Julian’s skin tone into focus.

The Pixel 6 lit all three equally, but had some stray light that took away some of the saturation from the photo.

This time all three preferred different images.

“This one looks real, but this one just looks nicer,” said Mariel.

None of the smartphones provided a “perfect” picture in such difficult lighting conditions, but it is a significant improvement over the pictures phone cameras could take five years ago.

“This work is never done. This is a first expression of this mission, but our teams are already working on the next phone again, ”said Koenigsberger.

He added that Google’s Image Equity Initiative isn’t just about making sure people appear accurate in photos. The team is working on expanding this technology to a range of Google image products to enhance the look of users in video conferencing tools or even edit images in Google Photos.

Koenigsberger describes it as a process that focuses on machine learning improvements, and Holland said it will continue to improve across all smartphones over time.

“No matter what phone you have in your pocket, it will take multiple pictures and combine different parts,” said Holland. “As phone cameras get better, I think the distance between a professional camera and a phone camera is getting smaller and smaller.”

So which camera is the best? The answer to this question lies mainly in personal preference.

In fact, as most photographers will admit, the best camera is the one you have with you to capture the moment.

ABC7 News has asked Apple for a comment. The company said it is also using machine learning in the iPhone and working with photographers to capture more lifelike images.

Samsung told ABC7 News that it is also using artificial intelligence to improve the camera in its Galaxy phones, taking into account everything from skin tone to hair color to ensure the pictures look accurate and natural.