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Mobile Photography

HDR Mode

A smartphone camera feature that captures multiple exposures and merges them to produce a single image with extended dynamic range.

Modern smartphone HDR mode captures two to nine frames at different exposures in rapid succession, then uses computational photography to merge them. The algorithm selects the best-exposed pixels from each frame — shadow detail from brighter exposures and highlight detail from darker ones. Advanced implementations like Google HDR+ stack multiple short-exposure frames to reduce noise while capturing in a single exposure bracket. Apple's Smart HDR analyzes scene content to apply different processing to sky regions, skin tones, and shadow areas. Night mode extends this concept with longer exposures and more frames. The result is images that look natural despite challenging lighting — backlit portraits, sunset landscapes, and interior scenes with bright windows.

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