Help zero shutter delay, face detection and anti-flickering

[tyrone910]

Hi guys, I've always been bothered by these 3 options on my Android phone's camera settings. I don't know what difference or improvements (if any) do they make on a digital photo. I've experimented with these settings several times and I can't seem to find any difference between the results. Although I kinda know what zero shutter delay does (good for capturing moving objects? I guess.), I really don't get how face detection and anti-flicker works. Can someone please advice me what setting is best for Android phone cameras? Thanks.

 

[funkylogik]

I think face detection tries to focus on faces in a pic. No idea about anti flicker

 

[EarlyMon]

If the settings look like this for anti flicker -



Then it's really anti banding in the Android camera api.

If you have a lamp going at 60 Hz for your light source (50 Hz in the UK) and your shutter speed doesn't match the frequency properly you can see banding on a picture, flickering in a video. For outdoor lighting, off is best. For indoor lighting, don't set it to the opposite frequency of your country's power line frequency. If confused, just put it on auto.

Faster shutter response can also mean more noise, depending on the sensor. Fast captures the moment, slower gives more sensor integration time.

 

[tyrone910]

So turning off zero shutter delay adds more quality to still images? CMIIW.

 

[EarlyMon]

So turning off zero shutter delay adds more quality to still images? CMIIW.

Exactly correct.

 

[tyrone910]

Thanks.

 

[Bhanu Pratap]

Hi Although the Question is quite old, I'd like to update for future references.
Zero Shutter Delay (ZSD) is a feature that synchronises your shutter with capture icon. ZSD On will capture images at the instant when you press the capture icon. ZSD Off will capture the images with delay of 3 frames (or more depending on ISP). ZSD ON requires more memory & Power due to the inherent algorithm, and there is noise as shared by Earlymon above. It also results in darker pictures, if captured in lower light conditions.
Face Detection algorithm in ISP will detect your face, and apply metering mode and brightness depending on your face.
Anti-Flicker will decide upon the refresh rate of your display depending upon the various light sources present at the time of capture (say natural sunlight +/ Tubelight +/ Yellow Light etc.) and minimises flickering on the display or in Video. This is also used when capturing in different geographical locations (say India is 50 Hz & US is 60 Hz, so selecting proper mode would minimise flicker). But sometimes, the 1st case I mentioned earlier is not removed by selecting Auto or 50/60 Hz. A case of Banding. It has to be dealt with in the ISP.