the processor of your mobile camera

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The mobile camera is one of its most important elements, and the fact that these devices of such a compact size can take such good photos – which can be improved with a few adjustments – is due, among other things, to to ISP o Image Signal Processor.

It is a component that integrates some smartphones and other devices with a camera.

Many companies independently design their own to improve the photographic section of their mobiles, and this is an element that can be totally differentiating.

What is Image Signal Processor or ISP

All camera-equipped devices have an ISP, which can be categorized as a special processing unit for the camera and which is responsible for performing several functions such as color interpolation or noise reduction in photography, as well as performing autofocus or applying filters.

It is a unit usually integrated into the camera itself or the processor, and it is an element whose performance, to a large extent, depends on the end result of the video or photoat least in some aspects such as color interpretation.

In the world of smartphones, some brands use the ISP integrated in the processors, while others choose to develop and manufacture their own to integrate it into their smartphones and have maximum control over the image processing algorithm, such as Xiaomi with its FAI Surge or Google with Tensor, among many others examples.

Indeed, if the brand has opted for the photographic part of one of its mobiles, the most normal thing is that it includes an ISP to increase its processing speed and to be able to control this process.

What function does ISP have in your mobile

You now know that the ISP is responsible, to some extent, for the results of the images you take with your mobile, and it already shows the importance of this processing unit. However, it is not limited to this.

When taking a photo, light is captured through millions of photosensitive cells found in the sensor, which collect a certain amount for each area of ​​the image, and a filter is applied to this pattern, then interpolate colors, that the ISP takes care of.

By taking care of image processing, the faster the ISP does its job, the more before you can see them in your gallery. The best example of this is high-resolution sensors, such as those over 100 megapixels.

In these you can see the difference in processing time when taking a 16 megapixel interpolated image regarding the processing time of a 108 megapixel image. After all, there are several million more pixels to process, so this process takes longer.

Additionally, the image signal processor performs other tasks such as face detection, the application of filters or even the creation of panoramic images through the mode of the same name, which superimposes several images in the conventional format to create it, achieving a realistic union thanks to its algorithm.

In this sense, each manufacturer can follow the strategy they deem appropriate with their mobile camera application, since there are some that choose to allow the user to change certain presets processing, increasing the contrast or other aspects of the final image, correcting the ISP algorithm according to taste.

ISP and RAW format

In many smartphones you have the option to take the image in RAW format, although to be precise “RAW images” are not RAW images, they are containers with all the values ​​collected by the sensor, but completely unprocessed.

This makes them larger files, but they store much more information from the photograph so that you are the one handling the color and other aspects of processing through an external image processor such as Lightroom, RawTherapee, or LightZone.

If you compare an image in RAW format with an image that has been processed by your mobile’s ISP, you can see the differences between the two, and if you edit it with a specialized editor, you will see that there are many more room to edit.

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