At the 2017 Mobile World Congress Shanghai on June 28, vivo showcased new DSP photography technology, sparking great interest in the photography community, and was hailed as the “Night God” of smartphones. In just a month, the X9s Plus equipped with DSP technology was already on the market, a speed that left many astonished.
The principle of this DSP photography technology is that the phone is equipped with an independent dual-core DSP chip, significantly enhancing the processing speed of raw images, enabling more complex calculations without the user perceiving the processing. Due to the speed enhancement, when taking photos in complex lighting conditions such as HDR, backlight, and night scenes, the phone automatically performs scene detection, capturing multiple RAW format photos and processing them, resulting in significant improvements in computational speed and quality during the entire shooting process.
Those who enjoy photography know that RAW format, also known as lossless format, records a lot of original information during shooting, resulting in a large file size, four times larger than JPG. However, thanks to the 256MB memory of vivo’s dual-core DSP, the processing speed is three times faster than that of ordinary smartphones.
It is well known that due to size and sensor limitations, although smartphone photography quality is improving, there are still many challenges, especially in low-light or complex lighting conditions, where one often encounters issues such as blurry or soft photos; inaccurate exposure leading to dark images, and excessive noise affecting photo quality. The dual-core DSP photography technology can produce higher quality photos in various complex scenes such as backlighting, night scenes, motion stabilization, and beauty effects, significantly reducing noise in night shots and avoiding problems of underexposed or overexposed subjects.
What is the actual photographic effect of DSP technology? We took advantage of the night, dressed in night gear, and ventured into Beijing’s Sanlitun bar street and cafes to conduct a night photography adventure with the vivo X9s Plus and the iPhone 7 Plus.
Test 1: Color and Detail Performance
Low-light shooting comparison (Left: iPhone 7 Plus, Right: vivo X9s Plus)
200% magnification comparison (Left: iPhone 7 Plus, Right: vivo X9s Plus)
First, we photographed under indoor warm light sources, mainly examining the performance of the two phones in color reproduction and detail. During the test, we set the phones to automatic white balance mode. The comparison shows that the iPhone 7 Plus has a higher saturation in yellow, appearing overly vibrant, while the vivo X9s Plus has more accurate color reproduction. When magnified by 200%, the center to edge clarity of the vivo X9s Plus’s watch is sharp, demonstrating a stronger ability to capture details.
Editor’s Comment:
In comparison, the vivo X9s Plus has higher sharpness and richer details. The automatic white balance of both phones also exhibits different styles; the iPhone 7 Plus leans warmer, while the color performance of the vivo X9s Plus is more likely to be well-received.
——Visual Director of “Photography Friends” Yu Wenjing
Test 2: Noise Reduction and Dynamic Range Performance
Urban night scenes are among our favorite subjects to shoot, yet they are also the hardest to capture well. The flickering neon lights and varying brightness create significant contrast, often resulting in underexposure where building outlines are difficult to discern, while overexposure can cause loss of detail in bright areas.
Beijing Sanlitun shooting comparison (Left: iPhone 7 Plus, Right: vivo X9s Plus)
100% magnification comparison (Left: iPhone 7 Plus, Right: vivo X9s Plus)
In this test, we used full automatic shooting to accurately reflect the output quality. The comparison samples show that the iPhone 7 Plus struggles under complex lighting conditions, suffering from significant overexposure, and when magnified by 100%, many areas exhibit exposure overflow. Thanks to the use of DSP technology and multiple exposure overlays, vivo performs well in dynamic range, accurately exposing the highlights without excessive overflow, while the details in the dark areas are thoroughly showcased. In terms of noise control, the image purity is outstanding, with hardly any large noise present.
Let’s also take a look at the portrait effects of smartphone photography. Although the sky has not completely darkened, the vivo performs impressively in low light.
Editor’s Comment:
The vivo X9s Plus uses a high-quality 1/2.8 inch 16-megapixel sensor, providing excellent image quality. Coupled with the powerful performance of the DSP chip, we can see from the night scene samples that it not only outputs pure image quality but also excels in color representation.
——Planning Editor Director of “Photography Friends” Ji Rui
In comparison, the vivo X9s Plus outperformed the iPhone 7 Plus in all night shooting tests, proving that DSP photography technology is indeed remarkable: it enhances dark area quality, retains details in highlights, and offers more realistic colors, making the photos closer to what the human eye perceives. It addresses the pain points of photographers struggling with poor performance in various complex lighting conditions such as low light and backlighting, demonstrating vivo’s people-oriented and extreme photography brand spirit, more down-to-earth than competitors’ flashy space photography gimmicks.