iPhone 3GS Camera Pre-Caches Images Before You Take Them?
Does the iPhone 3GS camera constantly buffer live video data, in effect pre-caching the images you want before you take them? Birdhouse developer Adam Lisagore thinks so, and says so via his Lonely Sandwich blog:
from the moment you launch the Camera app, data is not only streaming to the viewer, but being cached to memory at full resolution, much like a TiVo with a live broadcast. Where there’s been latency in previous versions of the iPhone hardware/software due to processing limitations, those limitations have been overcome in the iPhone 3GS, closing the gap between intention and result by processing the streaming input from a microsecond before the shutter was released. In essence, the iPhone is constantly storing the picture you want before you even take it.
Daring Fireball confirms this, and after-the-fact, it lines up with a lot of our experiences here at TiPb as well.
Clever indeed, Apple…
August 14th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Then why is there a delay from when I press record to what is actually recorded? Pretty stupid.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I notice the same thing, I would take quick photos of Basketball games, it like night and day. I never miss a pic compared to the 1st gen and 3G.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Adam I did notice that but, I think that quick delay is necessary for video recording.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
As a photographer I didn’t think about this but it makes sense. You would never get the sharpness it’s getting unless it was pre-capturing the data. The shutter was like my D300 at 1/30 of a second at about f/4.5 (handles low light about the same.
To compare, I used a Blackberry Storm camera and it had a noticeable lag.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
This would make sense. I’ve always wondered how it took such clear pics regardless of how much camera shake you make tapping the screen.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
The camera was my main reason for upgrading.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Makes sense. I was wondering how the pic could capture so fast and still be clear when I was walking down the street. Nice job Apple!