Hands-on with Imint’s Vidhance Software: Powerful Video Stabilization!

Even if you consider yourself very in tune with what’s going on in the smartphone space, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of a company like Imint before. Not every smartphone company can be like Apple, Samsung, or Huawei and develop almost all of their own technology in-house, and even the big 3 that we just mentioned still often license technology from third-parties. Imint is one such company that develops and licenses software to smartphone makers, many of whom you’re probably familiar with, including ASUS, Motorola, Xiaomi, Vivo, Huawei, OnePlus, OPPO, HMD Global, and many others. The company’s signature Vidhance suite is comprised of various camera tech that enables some of the best stabilization I’ve seen on any phone, ever.

Imint is a Swedish company that was founded in 2007 and currently develops and licenses the Vidhance SDK, a software development kit for chipset vendors and smartphone device makers to integrate Imint’s video enhancement technologies. Back in February, Imint announced two new additions to their Vidhance software suite: Selfie Mode and Super Stabilization. Selfie Mode is designed to keep your face in the frame when you’re recording a video from the front-facing camera, whereas Super Stabilization uses wide-angle and high-resolution cameras to stabilize videos with excessive motion in them. Both of these features have been optimized to run on the Spectra 480 ISP in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, and they’re both already shipping on the new Motorola Moto Edge+.

In order to demo Imint’s Vidhance software, Imint sent me two Pixel 2 devices running a customized version of Android with Imint’s software baked in. The two phones came pre-installed with 3 different apps: Stabilization, Live Composer, and Auto Zoning. In the video below, I go through the different options, show off some of the settings, and do a demo of each of the apps.

Stabilization is, of course, designed to produce a super stable video. With it enabled, I found the video stabilization to be much better than the phone’s OIS alone. (Since both phones sent to me were running a modified AOSP ROM, I couldn’t test the standard Google Camera app with Google’s Fused Video Stabilization [OIS+EIS] to compare.) Still, the results speak for themselves: Vidhance stabilization does an incredible job stabilizing video from the rear camera. Front-facing video is even more impressive in this case because on many phones, there is no OIS on the front camera. That means without any software stabilization, front-facing video can get really shaky.

Next is Auto Zoning and this is what I think is the most impressive feature. With Auto Zoning, you can zone in on a specific area and keep that area in focus even as you move the camera around. For example, you could be panning your phone around in a park, but as long as the area you have selected is in sight of the camera, it will always be cropped in on that one area.

Next is Live Composer, which basically allows for super-smooth zooming. While it might not sound like a huge deal (and it really isn’t), it’s really neat to just play around with. It’s something that will take you by surprise when you realize just how choppy zooming in on most smartphones can be.

While all of these features seem impressive, keep in mind that they aren’t just available for you to download with an app. Imint licenses this technology for OEMs to use in their smartphones. There’s no easy way to tell which of Imint’s Vidhance features are being used in any particular smartphone, either, as OEMs usually don’t bother (or rather, prefer not to) list what technologies they’re licensing. At least for the Motorola Moto Edge+, we know it supports a couple of new Vidhance features including Video Stabilization, Horizon Correction, Dynamic Blur Reduction, and Field of View Correction. Even though I haven’t had the chance to try these features out on a commercially available device, I’m really impressed by what I’ve seen on the demo Pixel 2 units that Imint loaned me.

The post Hands-on with Imint’s Vidhance Software: Powerful Video Stabilization! appeared first on xda-developers.

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Hands-on with Imint’s Vidhance Software: Powerful Video Stabilization!

Even if you consider yourself very in tune with what’s going on in the smartphone space, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of a company like Imint before. Not every smartphone company can be like Apple, Samsung, or Huawei and develop almost all of their own technology in-house, and even the big 3 that we just mentioned still often license technology from third-parties. Imint is one such company that develops and licenses software to smartphone makers, many of whom you’re probably familiar with, including ASUS, Motorola, Xiaomi, Vivo, Huawei, OnePlus, OPPO, HMD Global, and many others. The company’s signature Vidhance suite is comprised of various camera tech that enables some of the best stabilization I’ve seen on any phone, ever.

Imint is a Swedish company that was founded in 2007 and currently develops and licenses the Vidhance SDK, a software development kit for chipset vendors and smartphone device makers to integrate Imint’s video enhancement technologies. Back in February, Imint announced two new additions to their Vidhance software suite: Selfie Mode and Super Stabilization. Selfie Mode is designed to keep your face in the frame when you’re recording a video from the front-facing camera, whereas Super Stabilization uses wide-angle and high-resolution cameras to stabilize videos with excessive motion in them. Both of these features have been optimized to run on the Spectra 480 ISP in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, and they’re both already shipping on the new Motorola Moto Edge+.

In order to demo Imint’s Vidhance software, Imint sent me two Pixel 2 devices running a customized version of Android with Imint’s software baked in. The two phones came pre-installed with 3 different apps: Stabilization, Live Composer, and Auto Zoning. In the video below, I go through the different options, show off some of the settings, and do a demo of each of the apps.

Stabilization is, of course, designed to produce a super stable video. With it enabled, I found the video stabilization to be much better than the phone’s OIS alone. (Since both phones sent to me were running a modified AOSP ROM, I couldn’t test the standard Google Camera app with Google’s Fused Video Stabilization [OIS+EIS] to compare.) Still, the results speak for themselves: Vidhance stabilization does an incredible job stabilizing video from the rear camera. Front-facing video is even more impressive in this case because on many phones, there is no OIS on the front camera. That means without any software stabilization, front-facing video can get really shaky.

Next is Auto Zoning and this is what I think is the most impressive feature. With Auto Zoning, you can zone in on a specific area and keep that area in focus even as you move the camera around. For example, you could be panning your phone around in a park, but as long as the area you have selected is in sight of the camera, it will always be cropped in on that one area.

Next is Live Composer, which basically allows for super-smooth zooming. While it might not sound like a huge deal (and it really isn’t), it’s really neat to just play around with. It’s something that will take you by surprise when you realize just how choppy zooming in on most smartphones can be.

While all of these features seem impressive, keep in mind that they aren’t just available for you to download with an app. Imint licenses this technology for OEMs to use in their smartphones. There’s no easy way to tell which of Imint’s Vidhance features are being used in any particular smartphone, either, as OEMs usually don’t bother (or rather, prefer not to) list what technologies they’re licensing. At least for the Motorola Moto Edge+, we know it supports a couple of new Vidhance features including Video Stabilization, Horizon Correction, Dynamic Blur Reduction, and Field of View Correction. Even though I haven’t had the chance to try these features out on a commercially available device, I’m really impressed by what I’ve seen on the demo Pixel 2 units that Imint loaned me.

The post Hands-on with Imint’s Vidhance Software: Powerful Video Stabilization! appeared first on xda-developers.

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[Giveaway] Wavelet’s latest update adds even more features to make your headphones sound better

Last month, we wrote about an app called “Wavelet” that really took off among the community. The app is developed by XDA Senior Member pittvandewitt and it’s designed to let you apply an equalizer profile to tune your headphones to the Harman standard. For many users, this improves the sound quality of their headphones, though of course, audio quality is largely subjective. Still, a lot of our readers tried out the app and reported that it worked very well for a variety of headphones.

Well, pittvandewitt is back with a major update to the Wavelet app. The latest update adds even more features, and to celebrate the success of the first release, the developer has shared multiple promotional codes so we can do a giveaway! (More details on that below.)

Screenshots of the Wavelet app from its Play Store listing.

Wavelet's Existing Features (via Google Play)

AutoEq
• All models have been measured and compensated to the Harman target to provide you with the best sound quality you can get out of your cans.

9-band Graphic equalizer
• Compensate for missing frequencies or annoying spikes

Bass booster (Full package)
• Add some extra thump to your beats

Reverberation (Full package)
• Simulate reverberation in your tracks

Virtualizer (Full package)
• Add spatialization effect to your music

Bass tuner (Full package)
• Remove unwanted resonance from bass frequencies

Limiter
• Remove unwanted volume peaks

Channel balance
• Restore balance between left and right channel

New Features in Wavelet

Importing GraphicEQ Files

The first major new feature is the ability to import GraphicEQ files generated by AutoEQ. In our last article, we talked about how members of the audiophile community came together to create a database of over 2,300 sound profiles tailored to specific headphones. This database is available and updated frequently on GitHub and is where the Wavelet app sources its equalizer profiles from. With the ability to import GraphicEQ files, Wavelet will now let users add their own headphones if they’re not already included in the big database. You can find instructions on how to create custom compensation data in this article.

Choosing the Bass Type

Next up is the expansion of the bass tuner feature. Wavelet users will be able to choose from 3 different types of bass tuning: natural, transient compressor, and sustain compressor types. Per the developer:

“The transient compressor adds the possibility to increase or decrease the initial bass punch. The sustain compressor preserves the transient and is able to increase or reduce the rumble. This can be used to reduce resonance without compromising the initial kick or to make balanced armature drivers sound less anemic.”

Making the Wavelet Service Less Annoying

Lastly, pittvandewitt received complaints from users about the endlessly running service, so he has updated Wavelet so that it will now close automatically after all active music sessions are ended. The service will automatically restart whenever a new audio session is opened, though. Legacy mode must be disabled for this to work.

Bug Fixes

The Wavelet update also includes some bug fixes. Per the developer:

• The selected audio device will now always represent the currently active audio device.
• A distinction in configuration between Bluetooth devices connected as a separate left and right device will no longer be made.
• The vast majority of ANRs and crashes are fixed.

Giveaway!

The developer has shared 50 promotional codes with us to distribute to you. We will be posting 10 codes at a time in the comments section below at every hour. To redeem a code, open the Google Play Store, swipe open the sidebar menu, tap “Redeem” near the bottom, and enter the code.

Be sure to download the Wavelet app from the Play Store below and also visit the XDA forum thread if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Wavelet: Headphone specific equalization – XDA Forum Thread

Wavelet: Headphone specific equalization (Free⁺, Google Play) →

The post [Giveaway] Wavelet’s latest update adds even more features to make your headphones sound better appeared first on xda-developers.

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[Giveaway] Wavelet’s latest update adds even more features to make your headphones sound better

Last month, we wrote about an app called “Wavelet” that really took off among the community. The app is developed by XDA Senior Member pittvandewitt and it’s designed to let you apply an equalizer profile to tune your headphones to the Harman standard. For many users, this improves the sound quality of their headphones, though of course, audio quality is largely subjective. Still, a lot of our readers tried out the app and reported that it worked very well for a variety of headphones.

Well, pittvandewitt is back with a major update to the Wavelet app. The latest update adds even more features, and to celebrate the success of the first release, the developer has shared multiple promotional codes so we can do a giveaway! (More details on that below.)

Screenshots of the Wavelet app from its Play Store listing.

Wavelet's Existing Features (via Google Play)

AutoEq
• All models have been measured and compensated to the Harman target to provide you with the best sound quality you can get out of your cans.

9-band Graphic equalizer
• Compensate for missing frequencies or annoying spikes

Bass booster (Full package)
• Add some extra thump to your beats

Reverberation (Full package)
• Simulate reverberation in your tracks

Virtualizer (Full package)
• Add spatialization effect to your music

Bass tuner (Full package)
• Remove unwanted resonance from bass frequencies

Limiter
• Remove unwanted volume peaks

Channel balance
• Restore balance between left and right channel

New Features in Wavelet

Importing GraphicEQ Files

The first major new feature is the ability to import GraphicEQ files generated by AutoEQ. In our last article, we talked about how members of the audiophile community came together to create a database of over 2,300 sound profiles tailored to specific headphones. This database is available and updated frequently on GitHub and is where the Wavelet app sources its equalizer profiles from. With the ability to import GraphicEQ files, Wavelet will now let users add their own headphones if they’re not already included in the big database. You can find instructions on how to create custom compensation data in this article.

Choosing the Bass Type

Next up is the expansion of the bass tuner feature. Wavelet users will be able to choose from 3 different types of bass tuning: natural, transient compressor, and sustain compressor types. Per the developer:

“The transient compressor adds the possibility to increase or decrease the initial bass punch. The sustain compressor preserves the transient and is able to increase or reduce the rumble. This can be used to reduce resonance without compromising the initial kick or to make balanced armature drivers sound less anemic.”

Making the Wavelet Service Less Annoying

Lastly, pittvandewitt received complaints from users about the endlessly running service, so he has updated Wavelet so that it will now close automatically after all active music sessions are ended. The service will automatically restart whenever a new audio session is opened, though. Legacy mode must be disabled for this to work.

Bug Fixes

The Wavelet update also includes some bug fixes. Per the developer:

• The selected audio device will now always represent the currently active audio device.
• A distinction in configuration between Bluetooth devices connected as a separate left and right device will no longer be made.
• The vast majority of ANRs and crashes are fixed.

Giveaway!

The developer has shared 50 promotional codes with us to distribute to you. We will be posting 10 codes at a time in the comments section below at every hour. To redeem a code, open the Google Play Store, swipe open the sidebar menu, tap “Redeem” near the bottom, and enter the code.

Be sure to download the Wavelet app from the Play Store below and also visit the XDA forum thread if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Wavelet: Headphone specific equalization – XDA Forum Thread

Wavelet: Headphone specific equalization (Free⁺, Google Play) →

The post [Giveaway] Wavelet’s latest update adds even more features to make your headphones sound better appeared first on xda-developers.

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MicroToggles is an open source widget with 30+ toggles for rooted power users

Google introduced Quick Setting tiles in Android Lollipop to allow users to easily toggle certain settings on their devices. However, you still need to pull down the notification shade with one finger at least twice to see the full set of Quick Settings tiles (you only need to pull down once if you use two fingers). Now imagine the freedom to have all those toggles on your home screen in the form of a widget. This is where MicroToggles from XDA Recognized Developer ukanth comes into play.

Widgets have been a staple among Android users for years, and MicroToggles allows them to be more productive by adding more than 30 actionable toggles. Besides typically used toggles such as Wi-Fi, GPS (AKA Location), and Airplane mode, you will now get access to several not-so-used toggles such as Wireless USB Debugging and battery information at your fingertips. Expand the list below to see all the supported toggles.

Supported actions by MicroToggles

• Wifi optimizer
• Home Shortcut
• USB Tether
• Screen Lock
• Volume Toggle
• adbWireless
• Rotation Lock
• Wifi
• Sync
• Mobile Data
• Flashlight
• GPS
• Bluetooth
• Brightness
• Data network Toggle
• Bluetooth Tether
• Sync now
• Airplane Mode
• Bluetooth Discovery
• Music Volume
• Brightness
• Auto Brightness
• Brightness Slider
• Screen Always On
• Screen timeout
• Screen auto rotate
• Screen Light
• Volume Slider
• Battery Info
• Pulse Notification Light
• Font +/-
• Shutdown menu
• Shutdown
• Restart

The developer is actively working on adding more features as well as new toggles. The app works on Android 10 while being backward compatible all the way back to Android Lollipop. Having root access is suggested to make the most of this highly customizable Android widget as many toggles require root.

The concept of this app isn’t completely new, though, as the widget itself is based on an app named PowerToggles that used to provide similar functionalities. XDA Junior Member painlessDeath, the creator of PowerToggles, open-sourced the project before discontinuing development which was later picked up by XDA Recognized Developer ukanth to use as the foundation for MicroToggles.

As of now, the app is in the Early Access stage, but you can download it using the link below. The source code is available on a private repository, which the developer has promised to make public after the general availability of the widget.

MicroToggles — XDA Download and Discussion Thread

MicroToggles (Root) (Free, Google Play) →

The post MicroToggles is an open source widget with 30+ toggles for rooted power users appeared first on xda-developers.

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via IFTTT

MicroToggles is an open source widget with 30+ toggles for rooted power users

Google introduced Quick Setting tiles in Android Lollipop to allow users to easily toggle certain settings on their devices. However, you still need to pull down the notification shade with one finger at least twice to see the full set of Quick Settings tiles (you only need to pull down once if you use two fingers). Now imagine the freedom to have all those toggles on your home screen in the form of a widget. This is where MicroToggles from XDA Recognized Developer ukanth comes into play.

Widgets have been a staple among Android users for years, and MicroToggles allows them to be more productive by adding more than 30 actionable toggles. Besides typically used toggles such as Wi-Fi, GPS (AKA Location), and Airplane mode, you will now get access to several not-so-used toggles such as Wireless USB Debugging and battery information at your fingertips. Expand the list below to see all the supported toggles.

Supported actions by MicroToggles

• Wifi optimizer
• Home Shortcut
• USB Tether
• Screen Lock
• Volume Toggle
• adbWireless
• Rotation Lock
• Wifi
• Sync
• Mobile Data
• Flashlight
• GPS
• Bluetooth
• Brightness
• Data network Toggle
• Bluetooth Tether
• Sync now
• Airplane Mode
• Bluetooth Discovery
• Music Volume
• Brightness
• Auto Brightness
• Brightness Slider
• Screen Always On
• Screen timeout
• Screen auto rotate
• Screen Light
• Volume Slider
• Battery Info
• Pulse Notification Light
• Font +/-
• Shutdown menu
• Shutdown
• Restart

The developer is actively working on adding more features as well as new toggles. The app works on Android 10 while being backward compatible all the way back to Android Lollipop. Having root access is suggested to make the most of this highly customizable Android widget as many toggles require root.

The concept of this app isn’t completely new, though, as the widget itself is based on an app named PowerToggles that used to provide similar functionalities. XDA Junior Member painlessDeath, the creator of PowerToggles, open-sourced the project before discontinuing development which was later picked up by XDA Recognized Developer ukanth to use as the foundation for MicroToggles.

As of now, the app is in the Early Access stage, but you can download it using the link below. The source code is available on a private repository, which the developer has promised to make public after the general availability of the widget.

MicroToggles — XDA Download and Discussion Thread

MicroToggles (Root) (Free, Google Play) →

The post MicroToggles is an open source widget with 30+ toggles for rooted power users appeared first on xda-developers.

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How to force 90Hz mode in every app on the Realme X2 Pro [Root]

The Realme X2 Pro is unquestionably one of the best-priced flagship-tier smartphones you can get, even in 2020. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ SoC, the phone offers an impressive quad-camera setup, insanely fast 50W charging, and a high refresh rate 90Hz display. Users have the freedom to choose between the 60Hz and 90Hz refresh rates, but the 90Hz mode is actually limited to only a handful of third-party apps. Our own Tushar Mehta tried out the famous ADB command trick from the OnePlus 7 Pro/7T/7T Pro to unlock the 90Hz mode at all times in all apps, only to find out that it did not work on the Realme X2 Pro. That was obviously going to be the case since the X2 Pro doesn’t run OxygenOS but rather ColorOS/Realme UI.

Realme X2 Pro Forums

The good news is, though, that Realme has a hidden command left in the Realme X2 Pro’s firmware, which can be exploited to unlock a persistent 90Hz mode on this device. XDA Recognized Developer phhusson actually managed to discover the required parameters back in February. You need to fiddle with an Android service called SurfaceFlinger, albeit you have to be rooted to execute the command shown below from ADB shell or a terminal emulator app. This command will need to be executed on every boot.

su -c service call SurfaceFlinger 1035 i32 0

In case you are running a recent version of phhusson’s custom AOSP Project Treble GSI on your Realme X2 Pro, then you can find a “Force FPS” option in the “Misc” settings of phhusson’s Treble settings app which does the same thing mentioned above. You can separately download the relevant app, but it might work under stock Realme UI.

Force 90Hz mode in every app on the Realme X2 Pro — XDA Discussion Thread

If you would specifically like to force a 90Hz refresh rate for just PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds (PUBG) Mobile on the Realme X2 Pro, XDA Senior Member rkmadotra has come up with a handy Magisk module. Upon examining the internals, it seems that the module just replaces /system/etc/refresh_rate_config.xml with a modified version of that file that sets the PUBG Mobile package to 90Hz display mode.

PUBG Mobile Global 90Hz Enabler for the Realme X2 Pro — XDA Download and Discussion Thread

Both Realme UI and ColorOS have this particular file on smartphones featuring display panels with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz. The OS checks the packages in this list to decide what refresh rate mode to run the display at. For example, this file does exist on the OPPO Find X2 and Realme X3 SuperZoom, though these two devices can’t run at 90Hz as they only have 60Hz and 120Hz display modes.

The post How to force 90Hz mode in every app on the Realme X2 Pro [Root] appeared first on xda-developers.

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