What is the point of dual-led in the Evo 4G?

[storino03]

Just wondering what the benefits are. Do they flash at different times or what?

 

[biscodude]

Two LEDs are brighter than one.

 

[storino03]

so they flash at the same time?

 

[marclile]

so they flash at the same time?

yeah, i believe that they flash at the same time... it's just for more light.

 

[BigRick10]

I heard it is supposed to help with red eye

 

[storino03]

thanks for the clarification guys

 

[jedisrus]

I heard it is supposed to help with red eye

The only way that would be true is if they flashed at different times. A preflash then a regular flash in conjunction with the shutter.

 

[cl191]

They should put the LEDs apart from each others on the left and right of the lens, so that will help eliminate some of the harsh shadows from the flash.

 

[DirkBelig]

They should put the LEDs apart from each others on the left and right of the lens, so that will help eliminate some of the harsh shadows from the flash.

Agreed. If they'd put them in corners away from the lens' axis, it'd provide subtle diffusion and reduce red eye.

 

[akarol]

Red eye has nothing to do with the position of the flash. It is caused by dilated eyes reflecting the blood present in the retina under strong light. That's why in red-eye reduction mode there's a pre-flash, then a flash with the shutter. The pre-flash undilates the eye reducing the reflection of the retina present when the picture is captured.

BTW, 2 LEDs = gimmicky brighter flash. Wish it had a real flash instead of this.

 

[Gmaxxx]

I would imagine 2 is better than 1 is the only reason. A brighter flash ='s better for low light pictures.

 

[Brainerd]

...BTW, 2 LEDs = gimmicky brighter flash. Wish it had a real flash instead of this.

A "real flash" would chew through the battery. LED's are far more power thrifty.

 

[Bang321]

Red eye has nothing to do with the position of the flash. It is caused by dilated eyes reflecting the blood present in the retina under strong light. That's why in red-eye reduction mode there's a pre-flash, then a flash with the shutter. The pre-flash undilates the eye reducing the reflection of the retina present when the picture is captured.

BTW, 2 LEDs = gimmicky brighter flash. Wish it had a real flash instead of this.

You are correct sir... or madame. However, the positioning of the flash does affect the probability of getting red eye in photos. On smaller cameras and cell phones, the flash is typically placed very close to the lens. This increases the probability that the reflections off of the retina will come right back to the lens and cause red eye. On larger devices with flashes that are spaced further from the lens, the probability of red eye is reduced. I'm not trying to be snooty, just disseminating information

 

[Jordus]

I, too, wish my 200$ cell phone had a 3000$ DSLR built in.

 

[DirkBelig]

Red eye has nothing to do with the position of the flash.

Absolutely wrong. it has EVERYTHING to do with the position as Wikipedia says right off the top:

The red-eye effect in photography is the common appearance of red pupils in color photographs of eyes. It occurs when using a photographic flash very close to the camera lens (as with most compact cameras), in ambient low light.

I shoot a DSLR (Canon 50D) with an external flash and even with the flash head square to the subject, I never have red eye because the flash is 8-12" above the lens' axis. Even the built-in pop-up flash is high enough to be off-axis from the lens. Compare that to the typical P&S camera's lens-flash relationship.

The rest of your post is correct, though. "Red-eye reduction" is done by flashing light to constrict the pupil and this reduce the aperture where light can bounce against the retina and back. Since moving the flash away from the lens is impossible in tiny bodies, blinking the strobe is the annoying workaround.

As for the EVO, because the phone/camera is likely to be held vertically (portrait), one of the LEDs can't be placed at the "bottom", but there's no reason they could park the LEDs in the corners - making a triangle with the lens at the apex - other than it's a more costly and cumbersome solution. As the ifixit.com teardown shows, the flash LEDs are on a common board.

 

[cl191]

Or perhaps you can have the "flash" on for longer and basically use it as an continuous light, then you don't have to worry about red eyes. It's LEDs anyway, you can leave them on for however long you want.

 

[TheMobileWorx]

1. I have red eyes in just about every picture ever taken of me with a flash.

2. If someone finds a great flashlight app that works on the EVO similar to the motorola one for droid, please post it!

 

[sdmeier]

I'm wondering if the Lights can be turned on and off during Video Recording? I currently have a Pre and someone provided a Patch to do this, but It would be great if the EVO did it out of the box. It really is nice to have when shooting video in low light.

 

[kkacatin]

Better flashlight

I, too, wish my 200$ cell phone had a 3000$ DSLR built in.

haha nice!

You're not going to get quality photos, but at least it'll be a brighter flashlight!

Never owned an Android device but do you have to root the device to use the LED as a flashlight or is there a program to control it from the Market?

 

[TheMobileWorx]

No need to root! But you are going to want to root it anyways once you see all the other stuff that is possible like picme, wifi tether, etc.