In this tutorial I would like to explain the settings of the ASUS PixelMaster Camera.



White Balance: The different light sources like sun, bulp, neon light etc. have a different color temperature, depending on it's temperature and radiation frequency. In Auto Mode the camera tries to adjust the setting for the White Balance by itself to make sure that the color white is correct reproduced. Due to this it's called White Balance. For many occasions the Auto Mode is working good but to get best results it's necessary to setup the White Balance manual.
The different options in the White Balance settings are for Auto Mode, cloudy sky, sunshine, neon light and bulp.

ISO: The higher the ISO value the higher the sensitivity of the sensor but in result of higher ISO settings the noise (color noise, temperature noise etc.) in the photo is also higher. Due to the very small sensor in the phone it's always a balance act between correct exposure and acceptable noise. ISO values below 400 are good for nice results but at least the best results are possible at the lowest ISO values. In Auto Mode the camera is using the whole available ISO range to get a correct exposure. Unter low light conditions it could be better to use a manual setup to reduce the noise in the photo. If the resuting photo is not totall under exposed it's possible to get a almost perfect result after editing the photo with a photo editor on the PC.

Exposure Value: With the Exposure value it's possible to shift the exposure to a lighter or darker resulting photo without changing the ISO or Exposure Time (in manual mode).



Optimiyation: In the Auto Mode the camera software tries to optimize the photo depending on the situation. That means that the optimization is only processed if the software thinks that it's necessary. For better results it's better to switch on or off manualy. This setting has also influence in the time to save a photo.

Camera Resolution: This setting has influence in the photo and file size. For best results it's recommended to use the maximum value because it's the generic resulution of the camera in the phone. Lower resulutions are interpolated and the result is less good at all. A reduction of the size is always possible later, the enlargement from a lower resulution is always accompanied with noise and other distortions.

Anti-shake enhancement: This is a software based shake reduction but it's less effective as a hardware solution. It has also influence to the photo quality and the time to save a photo.

Image quality: The Image quality has also influence in the resulting photo but the impact is less compared to resulution settings.



Timestamp: Is inserting the date into the photo. The activated Timestamp option has also influence in the time to save a photo.

Touch Shutter: Activating this option allowes to take a photo by touching the screen. The place where the screen is toched is simultaneously the focus point.

Self Timer: Setup for the sellf timer to take eg. a selfie or a group photo.

Burst: To take a sequence of photos.



Focus mode: Smart-AF: The camera software is tries to find the optimal focus point. It could be overwritten by the user by touching the screen.
Continous auto focus: Useful for fast objects or situations with action to follow the focused object/person.
Infinity: The focus is set to infinity like a fix focus lense.

Metering mode: This setting controls how the camera determines the exposure. The best setting is depending on the situation.
Average: Is using the whole light information from the entire scene.
Center weighted: Is only using a part around the center of a scene to determine the exposure.  

Touch Auto-Exposure: Auto-Exposure on is using the area where the screen was touched to determine the exposure. Tap and hold allowes a manual correction.

Face Detection: The camera tries to detect faces in the scenery and will set the focus point to the face(s).



White Balance: The different light sources like sun, bulp, neon light etc. have a different color temperature, depending on it's temperature and radiation frequency. In Auto Mode the camera tries to adjust the setting for the White Balance by itself to make sure that the color white is correct reproduced. Due to this it's called White Balance. For many occasions the Auto Mode is working good but to get best results it's necessary to setup the White Balance manual.
The different options in the White Balance settings are for Auto Mode, cloudy sky, sunshine, neon light and bulp.

Exposure Value: With the Exposure value it's possible to shift the exposure to a lighter or darker resulting video..

Video Quality: The Video quality has influence in the resulting video.

Video stabilization: Stabilizes the video using a software based algorithm to stabilize the movements.



Video preference: Setting to prioritize the quality or the performance of the video.

Touch Auto-Exposure: Auto-Exposure on is using the area where the screen was touched to determine the exposure.

Smart brightness: The brightness of the screen is automatically changed due to the envoirmental brightness if this option is activated. If deactivated the screen keeps the same brightness as setup for the phone.



Guidelines: Displays guide lines on the screen to help taking straight and/or photos following the rule of thirds.

Info: Displays some additional information on the screen while taking a photo or video.

Review Duration: Time for a review of the actual taken shot.

Burst review: Shows a review of the burst shot after it was finished.

Shutter Animation: Shutter animation while taking a shot.



Share to ZenCircle: Option to share a taken photo on ZenCircle.

Shutter Sound: Enable or disable the Shutter Sound. Might not available in some countries.

Location Services: Enable or disable that location information is saved in the EXIF data of a photo.

Correct photo orientation: Automatically correction of the orientation between landscape and portrait.



Anti-Flicker: Some light sources like bulbs, TV sets, neon lights etc. are flickering with different frequency. The result could manifest in more or less wide stripes or waves in the photo. The correct setup is depending on the frequency of the power supply or the own frequency of the light source.

Power Saving Mode: Time after the phone is going to the standby mode.

Set volume key as: Defines how the volume keys are used while using the camera.

Save to: Defines the storage to save taken photos and videos.



Restore Default Settings: Restore all camera settings to the default values.

Tutorial: A camera tutorial provided by ASUS

Feedback & Help: What could it be? ;)

Report issue: Report a issue with the camera to ASUS



Encourage us: Rate the camera APP.

Version: Version of the camera software.



The left icon toggles between the back and front camera, the right icon toggles between no flash, auto flash and always flash.

Here I want to decribe some of the Pixelmaster Camera settings with some sample photos.

Lets start with the White Balance:
All photos were taken under indoor conditions with neon light.
The first was taken in Auto Mode of the White Balance and is not meant to be a masterpiece, it's just the reference for the other photos with the different White Balance settings.


Cloudy


Daylight


Fluorescent/Neon


Incandescent/Bulb


The results are very different and it highlights that the wrong setting of the White Balance can ruin every photo. With a good photo editing software and a lot of time and work can compensate some of the color tint but it won't be that perfect like a photo taken with the correct White Balance settings.

All options in the White Balance menu are prests, representing the most common situations. Much better are the possible settings which are given in the Manual Mode where the range is infinitely variable and allows a better adjustment than the presets in the menu.
To be prepared for a important photo shooting I would like to recommend to try out the different White Balance settings indoors - with and without flash - and also outdoors.
Regardless of photos with correct White Balance is it possible to use a incorrect setup to use it as an artistic style.


Exposure Value:
With the Exposure value it's possible to shift the exposure to a lighter or darker resulting photo without changing the ISO or Exposure Time (in manual mode).
To show the effect of changing the Exposure Value I have taken a photo (again not a masterpiece) in Auto Mode without any manual change.

For the next two photos (from left to right) the Exposure Value was shifted in full steps to +1 and +2.

The left photo (Exposure Value +1) shows more details in the foreground whereas the background is already a bit over exposed but on the right photo (Exposure Value +2) the background is already totally overexposed.

The last 2 photos where taken with the Exposure Values -1 and -2.

The result is reversed now. The foreground is getting drowned in darkness whereas the background is still good.

Under difficult light conditions like here, with a bright background and uch darker foreground it's possible to get the important area exposed well.
But it's also possible to use a selective over or under exposure to create a different atmosphere. eg. Compared to the well exposed first photo (taken short after noon) the last photo (taken with -2 and only a few seconds later) looks like to be taken in the late afternoon.
With an overexposure it's possible to make objects in the shadow more visible.
As long as no part of the photo is totally black or white it's still possible to adjust the overall exposure using a PC photo editing software.

So, depending on the the light situation it could be a good idea to take a few shots with a different setting for the Exposure Value.

Remark: The sample photos were taken with full steps (+2, +1, 0, -1 -2) of the Exposure Value, in the settings it's possible to use intermediate steps..


ISO
The ISO setting has significant influence in the quality of the photo. With a high ISO setting it's possible to get a well exposed photo under low light conditions but in the same way as the ISO value is rising the noise distortion is rising and the photo is getting grainy.
In Auto Mode the camera is using the whole available ISO range to get a correct exposure. Unter low light conditions it could be better to use a manual setup of the ISO value to reduce the noise in the photo. If the resuting photo is not totall under exposed it's possible to get a almost perfect result after editing the photo with a photo editor on the PC.

The following photos were taken indoors under daylight conditions, camera in Auto Mode and the ISO value was raised from 50 to 800 by double the previous ISO value.

At the bottom left corner of every shot is a 400% crop of an area of the photo.

(ISO 50, 1/12 sec.)

(ISO 100, 1/12 sec.)

(ISO 200, 1/33 sec.)

(ISO 400, 1/100 sec.)

(ISO 800, 1/132 sec.)

Especcialy in the dark and white parts of the photos is the increasing noise level very obvious. Whereas the first two photos, taken with a ISO value of 50/100, have low noise distortion and the photo taken with ISO 200 is still acceptable, are the last two very grainy. That's why it's advisable to setup the ISO value manually if the light conditions are good because in the Auto Mode the camera is using a optimal setup to ensure a low exposure time. With the knowledge of the relations between ISO value and exposure time it's possible to gain the best results.



To make the impact of the ISO setting on the quality of a photo more illustratively I took a set of photos with ISO settings from 50 to 800.

F2, 1/12 sec, ISO 50

F2, 1/12 sec, ISO 100

F2, 1/12 sec, ISO 200

F2, 1/12 sec, ISO 400

F2, 1/12 sec, ISO 800

Especially on the last 2 photos it's very obvious that the color noise is increasing dramatically.
For best or good results it's a good idea to use an ISO value below 400. With ISO 200 the result is still good enough but not perfect.

There is another factor which has a not to be underestimated, the temperature of the sensor. The higher the temperature of the sensor is, the higher is the color noise on the photo.
So, to get best possible results the ISO value and the temperatur of the sensor should be always in focus.

--- To be continued ---

--- Reserved for future updates ---

But no use.. the images are coming with same old blurred and dots

coolshriram.943 posted on 2015/12/13 19:23
But no use.. the images are coming with same old blurred and dots

If you look around in ZenPhoto you can find some great photos taken with a Zenfone camera.

wow!  thanks for sharing this tutorial! this's such a great article for many new users!

Mandy_ASUS posted on 2015/12/14 10:50
wow!  thanks for sharing this tutorial! this's such a great article for many new users!

Thank you Mandy_ASUS

I read all the questions about the PixelMaster settings here on ZenTalk, so I decided to write this tutorial.
Hopefully it's helpful for some users.

IceWM posted on 2015/12/14 12:15
Thank you Mandy_ASUS  

I read all the questions about the PixelMaster settings here on ZenTalk, ...

Of course it's very helpful Michael.  Details are well placed and fully explained.


Most of all its you who did all the effort to explain and I commend and salute your effort Mr.  Mini Mod.

Keep up the good work Sir Michael.


Cheers.

--- Update ---

Topic White Balance in the 2nd. posting.

--- Update ---

Topic: Exposure Value in the 2nd. posting