The AutoCLS technology from DxO Labs fixes unwanted color shading on mobile photos.

Over at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, companies are debuting the latest technology for smartphones and tablets -- including the tech that make these mobile devices tick. 

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DxO Labs has announced it is making its imaging technology compatible with Snapdragon processors from Qualcomm in the hopes of improving both video capture and color uniformity in mobile devices that use the chipsets. Both technologies are already in use in other devices.

DxO's electronic image stabilization (EIS), now available on Snapdragon processors, will aim to reduce the electronic "rolling shutter" effect recorded by a digital CMOS sensor when capturing video or photos of fast-moving objects like a helicopter’s rotor. This is caused because the sensor scans from top to bottom, with up to 1/15 second between the first and last pixel. 

DxO Labs’ EIS performs full rigid motion and electronic rolling shutter estimation and compensation, allowing for smoother video output and digital zoom without camera shake. DxO claims its EIS is more affordable and smaller than the optical image stabilization found in many cameras and smartphones -- Nokia’s “floating lens” technology included.

DxO will also port its AutoCLS technology, a color shading correction tool, to Snapdragon processors. Color shading, DxO claims, is a problem that affects “virtually all current phone cameras, a fundamental flaw inherent in their compact design.” Images may display patches of color in some areas but not others. Other solutions have included per-unit calibration, a costly method, or use of a hybrid filter—an additional component that can block much-needed light from the sensor. DxO’s AutoCLS essentially acts as overall white balance, but it uses image statistics differently to calculate the appropriate color shading correction.

AutoCLS is expected to be available for Snapdragon processors by the second quarter of this year.