CyanogenMod 10.1 camera app gets HDR option

CyanogenMod has announced that the latest build of its ROM now features an HDR mode in the stock CyanogenMod 10.1 camera. As with the stock HDR functions available on the Nexus 4, the HDR mode on the latest CM build captures multiple pictures and then renders them together to form one HDR image.

For its implementation, the camera takes three pictures—one at minimal exposure, one at neutral and one at maximum exposure—and then renders an HDR image using some fancy algorithms. The developers have warned, however, that some oddities may occur while using the HDR option on the CM 10.1 camera.

Now take HDR photos with CM10.1

The developers have given some guidelines in using the HDR option:

• Images are extremely sensitive to movement and vibration, you should use a tripod or stand whenever possible
• Action shots and moving subjects will most likely render poorly on lesser camera hardware, especially those with slow shutters
• The longer it takes your camera to capture all 3 images, the higher the chance for oddities in the rendered picture
• When enabled, the 3 “intermediate” pictures are deleted and you will only be left with the final composite

If your camera has Zero Shutter Lag, a decent sensor and good optics, the HDR mode should work well for mid-to-high end devices.

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The CyanogenMod team had released a new stable version of CM 10.1 for Samsung’s devices, as well as devices bearing the Nexus moniker back in January. While the list of devices isn’t quite comprehensive, more devices will presumably get the build when the ROM is ported to them. The latest stable build of CyanogenMod 10.1 comes as the latest installation of a release system called M builds. The build is based on Jelly Bean MR1.

The previous M-builds have been for CyanogenMod 10, which runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. M1 builds were released in early September and M2 builds saw a release in October. Support for additional devices will be added in time and developers on the XDA forums are building their own variants for other phones based on the CyanogenMod team’s release.

CyanogenMod’s ROMs are custom ROMs based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and come without any of the crapware that carriers or manufacturers like to add, such as extra apps or a custom UI skin. These ROMs usually incorporate additional tweaks and tools to improve performance and battery life while giving you “root” privileges – the ability to install, modify and tweak system-level apps and code in the Android operating system.

CyanogenMod 9 is based on Android v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and while many of the ports for unsupported devices have some issues, the team counts the ROM stable enough and said that they will be maintaining and fixing any major issues that come up in it.