When we check what’s new in Android 14 beta 2, we saw the first steps in the expected Ultra HDR support via Google Photos. And later, at Google I/O 2023, although not at its inaugural presentation, but at one of the many technical meetings held in those days, the search engine company went a little deeper into the definition of this new format, which, without a doubt, has aiming to fundamentally change the photography experience on Android.

To understand a little better what Ultra HDR is, we have to go back to the introduction of the SoC Snapdragon 888 at the end of 2020. In an in-depth analysis of this new integrated based on the information published by Qualcomm, one of the aspects that we reviewed was support for images with 10-bit color depth, an improvement aimed primarily at providing image capture capabilities for HDR-capable devices, that is, cameras are able to capture a wider range of colors and brightness in the same frame, thus offering a wider color range and brightness (that’s where HDR comes from, which is nothing else than high dynamic range).

Since then, we have seen more and more manufacturers add HDR support to their devices, which represents a significant improvement in the result of taking complex photos in which very dark elements are combined with other very bright ones. However, all these solutions have a common denominator, which is that until now they have always been subject to software developed by the same manufacturers, because the Google/Android operating system and ecosystem did not natively support 10-bit color depth.

We had news in May that this would change and now, according to what we can read in Phone Arena, Google Photos is already preparing to support Ultra HDR on Android 14with respect to some text strings found in version 51.0.561138754 of Google Photos with the following items:

• Ultra HDR disabled
• UltraHdrPreviewFragment
• EDITOR_ULTRA_HDR_PREVIEW
• photos_mediadetails_details_ultra_hdr

So we can confirm that Google is expanding Ultra HDR support to its entire Android ecosystem, which of course makes us think This will be another of the many innovations that we expect in the Google Pixel 8 generation about its photographic part. Something we will be able to confirm within a month because, as we told you a few days ago, the presentation of the new generation of Google smartphones is scheduled for October 4.

For those of you who don’t already know, one of the main benefits is Ultra HDR we are talking about a JPEG compatible format. And what does it mean? Photos taken in this format can be viewed on devices that are not compatible with it. Of course, yes, in the limited range (SDR) version, that is, with the maximum that the 8-bit color depth that the veteran image format can offer.