One of the most interesting new features of Android 14 is undoubtedly Ultra HDR support photo and video applications native to the operating system, which we were able to confirm about a month before this version of the operating system began to be released, and it meant finally supporting technology that was already ready at the hardware level. , since the end of 2020, when Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon 888 SoC, the top of the range for the first half of 2021.

How do you know, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which we can translate as extended dynamic range, i.e. a higher dynamic range than usual. And when we talk about dynamic range, we mean the range between the darkest and brightest points that the camera can properly capture. So an HDR image allows you to capture sharper contrasts and avoid underexposing/burning out the darkest and/or lightest areas.

Ultra HDR, which is the mode we’re dealing with now, has a color depth of 10 bits, compared to the 8 bits traditionally supported by the jpg format. Of course, this is not the only determining point for the resulting capture quality, as there are many other elements that affect it, but it guarantees that under the right conditions it will be possible to take photos and record video. with greater depth and color and light correspondence, which will therefore be much more vivid.

With the arrival of Android 14, Ultra HDR came to Google Photos and the device’s native camera application (only to those that have components compatible with this technology, but its scope will soon expand, as we can read in Android Police , The Android 14 CameraX API is already being prepared to support Ultra HDR for third-party apps. A major advance that will undoubtedly significantly improve the experience of using the camera of compatible devices.

Once the updated API is available (no exact date yet), It will be the developers who will have to implement the same in their applications, which we can expect them to do quickly, because in this way the content captured by them, be it photos or videos, will already take full advantage of the device’s functions.

When it comes to Ultra HDR images, They will be saved in JPEG_R formatwhich will allow the image to be displayed with 10-bit color depth on compatible devices, but it can also be displayed on those that are not, of course with a lower color depth.