How the RYYB sensor on the Huawei P30 Pro works

13 May 2019
We discuss the humble Bayer filter and the process of demosaicing.

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  • A
  • Avalon
  • m@R
  • 05 Nov 2020

Was red pixel wavelength changed because yellow is too close to red? They could have made RGYB or even better RGBW or separate monochrome camera. Graphene CMOS are x10 more sentivite.

    • d
    • dimz
    • 0Vd
    • 27 Jun 2020

    Anonymous, 15 May 2019I still don't understand how putting a different filter tha... moreYellow light wavelength is brighter than green, therefore a sensor/filter combo favouring it captures more light.

      NipponFan, 13 May 2019Sony is the best overall Android phone maker. The fact that... moreAfter xperia with totally unusable display just because of a tiny crack, while with all other brands I've tried the phone can still be used with a totally cracked display, I'm never going to buy again xperia no matter what.

        • S
        • Sleo
        • BKA
        • 23 Jul 2019

        LazyLancer, 13 May 2019Some people just don't know where to look ... yet. You can... moreIf I had read your comment before! I bought this model and now I'm experimenting it from life. I assure you the colors are better with the "old" lumia 950. The artifacts are also present in conditions of intense light (fountains, shining water etc ..). The updates did not resolve.

          NipponFan, 13 May 2019Sony is the best overall Android phone maker. The fact that... moreYou are completely delusional, Sony been producing behind competition stuff for many years, wake up dude

            RYYB or RGB+monochrome, which one you prefer?

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 6p$
              • 15 May 2019

              realitychecker, 14 May 2019hey cam experts, is this even true? popped in my recommende... moreDon't trust in Youtube video or photo comparisons.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • D0d
                • 15 May 2019

                I still don't understand how putting a different filter than green one, meaning put yellow filter instead of free one enables capture of more light? It is nowhere explained.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • j5$
                  • 14 May 2019

                  Nice article.
                  Your might want to note that the rgb curves in the graph represent the wavelength-weighted response curves of our eye.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • 81X
                    • 14 May 2019

                    Anonymous, 14 May 2019i wonder why don't they make an RGYB array sensor? or maybe... moreRGYB is exactly where my thoughts went as well. Brighter than RGGB, but with an empirical reference for the green channel to improve accuracy. RGBCYM would require more sensors per pixel however, and decisions about the distribution of 6 filters across at least 9 subpixels. Either you'd end up with lower resolution, or smaller sensors with a resulting reduction in light gathering power.

                      hey cam experts, is this even true? popped in my recommended videos and since this article all abt ryyb goodness in lowlight so,

                      https://youtu.be/peCx_tGYNko

                      why lowlight video on the p30 pro seems kinda better than the sony a7iii? it shouldnt be for me coz huawei is just a phone. my bet is this guy faked it, i guess.

                        Anonymous, 13 May 2019Sony Mobile does not ask for new sensor every year like oth... moreSamsung has repeated camera sensors between previous s series generations what are you talking about

                          IpsDisplay, 13 May 2019This is ironic as your critique lacks information in itself... moreIf you go back to the title, "How the RYYB sensor on the Huawei P30 Pro works" One would expect more than a sentence or diagrams about the RYYB sensor.
                          99% of the article is about the RGB/Bayer/CFA filter which has plenty information throughout the internet.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • t@g
                            • 14 May 2019

                            Nick Tagataka, 13 May 2019Lots of people are simply assuming that the RYYB sensor suc... morei wonder why don't they make an RGYB array sensor? or maybe RGBCMY sensor?
                            in theory, it should produce more accurate color reproduction, right?

                              VectorR, 13 May 2019I'm sure that Google would solve this problem because they ... moreGoogle should stick to regular RGB sensor if they want a decent output as they have all the skills for machine learning algorithms and image stacking, but no experience with different types of demosaicing. On top of that, unlike the regular HDR processing, their HDR+ combines multiple underexposed frames to reduce noise and prevents the highlights from being blown up - which means greenish shadow areas will stay greenish and there's absolutely no way to fix it. Huawei, on the other hand, can simply increase the number of different exposure combined to improve the color accuracy of the image.

                              Mate series usually gets the fix for all the quirks that P series has had, so I'm expecting them to iron out those issue in Mate 30 Pro. Or hopefully P30 series will receive the software update that improves the WB accuracy.

                                THE-TRUTH-REVEALER, 13 May 2019What I have seen in daylight images of P30 Pro published on... morePhoneArena's article was published before the software update, which mitigated the camera's tendency to choose overly warm WB. The same goes for Mrwhosetheboss' video comparison.

                                  LazyLancer, 13 May 2019Some people just don't know where to look ... yet. You can... morewhy would i look when i can have my friends p30 pro lol. seriously for my taste, i think i dont really care what you said. nice essay tho.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • LQu
                                    • 13 May 2019

                                    Anonymous, 13 May 2019So..... Huawei is using Sony's latest and greatest sensor ... moreLeica does not make sensors. ...

                                    Except Canon, all cameras have Sony sensors.
                                    That is why Canon performs worse than competition.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • LQu
                                      • 13 May 2019

                                      Leica pays to have their name, the lenses are not made by them.
                                      Same story HMD and Zeiss.

                                      Phone would cost much more. All phones use cheap lenses.
                                      Except LG, all other still use plastic lenses.

                                        All the people saying that this is not Huawei's achievement but Leica or Sony missed the part where it says that the most important part is the demosaisin or debayering and that it requires a very complex software to accomplish it.

                                        As for the color accuracy, while I do understand that if something is wrong with thee product the customer has the right to demand for it to be fixed / adjusted, the issues you guys complain about are so minimal that as you said yourselves only expert eyes can find them. Then again, no expert would buy this phone to take pro pictures, you most likely would buy a pro camera for half the price and better results than any phone out there.

                                        Also, this is Huawei's and Leica's first attempt on something different and innovative that accomplishes its main goal with only a few minimal drawbacks, I definitely would cut them some slack for it.

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