Google is very proud of what its algorithm can do with the famous "night vision" mode. They're so confident in their work that they've even published a hard comparison pitting the results of their Pixel 3 against a photograph taken by the iPhone XS under identical conditions.
A way that is in trend
When Google unveiled its new Pixel 3 phones , it highlighted a striking feature capable of finding light in completely unfavorable conditions. The results were immediately impressive, delivering breathtaking images right from the start. The mode quickly gained popularity, and many manufacturers have included similar solutions to enable nighttime shooting and produce acceptable images. But do you know who hasn't included anything similar? Apple.
Pixel 3 night vision mode
Taking advantage of this situation, Google hasn't missed the opportunity to showcase its capabilities against one of its most direct rivals, the iPhone XS . This is evident in a tweet posted by Google's Vice President of Marketing, Marvin Chow, who shared a revealing comparison of who would win in a nighttime scenario.
Night Sight on Google Pixel3 — pretty much speaks for itself? #teampixel pic.twitter.com/ao0Yi2W2Sq
— Marvin Chow (@theREALmarvin) January 27, 2019
In the image captured by the Pixel 3, we can see the girl wearing green pants and a green shirt. She's standing on a street where the asphalt appears wet, and the building on the left has neon lights that reflect off the ground. The image is quite colorful, has a good amount of detail, and surprisingly doesn't show much noise, especially in areas like the girl's clothing and the background sky.
On the iPhone side we come across a very different reality. The street in the scene appears quite dim, not to mention that the girl is completely in the dark and it is impossible to recognize her face. Now, has the way in which the image was captured had an influence?
The importance of proper exposure
Everything suggests that when taking the photo on the iPhone XS, the photographer metered the exposure on the neon lights , causing the rest of the scene to be considerably underexposed. Tapping on another building might have helped balance the scene's lighting, and perhaps even activating HDR mode (which was possibly turned off) could have improved the results somewhat. In any case, the exposure difference between the neon lights and the model's dark face would be difficult for the iPhone XS to correct in a single shot, and that's where the Pixel 3 has the advantage.
The difference between the two photographs is abysmal, and the Pixel 3 once again demonstrates that with the help of artificial intelligence and its complex algorithm it has managed to simplify the action of taking a photograph and not having to worry about the result.