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HTC One: Here's the SKINNY on the infamous PURPLE TINT (thermal defect)
- I had to send my One back to HTC to repair a camera with the purple tint issues as well as poor camera performance. Needless to say i was perturbed at having to be without my cell phone for a week or more, but i was able to force a conversation with a savvy tech person to get an understanding as to why these cameras are burning out. As it turns out, i was told that the cameras either need the camera module or the camera circuit replaced on the mother board of the phone. The interesting thing is the tech person tried to avoid the reason the cameras need this fix , but i would not let him off the hook. It seems that the Zoe feature on our phones is the culprit. The reason why? well when the feature is engaged it is constantly running and waiting for a shot to happen. The lense stays open in order to get the photo. We all know that Zoes are short video clips where we get 3 seconds of video, however, the tech informed me that the lense is actually opne a full 5 seconds to get the correct capture. Here's the real deal though, when your Zoe button is engaged ZOE is running. It's not only burning up your battery but it's also burmimg up the camera module itself and the one within the mother board!!!!! Hence, what HTC calls a thermal defect! WOW and WTF! Right? It seems that HTC has recognized the problem and when you send your phone in for repair, they are replacing these modules with parts that can handle the higher resistance that Zos can demand. But, the tech did say he would make sure to always disengage the feature even if it's for only a minute, when not in use!01-08-2014 11:17 AMLike 7
- It makes sense. In other threads, heat has been the main guess.
Luckily I don't have that problem with my phone but since the 4.3 OTA arrived I see a blue/purple haze on very dark areas in lowlight environments. Sometimes I can get away with it focusing on any other area of the shot but most of the time it's impossible to avoid it altogether.01-08-2014 11:53 AMLike 0 - It makes sense. In other threads, heat has been the main guess.
Luckily I don't have that problem with my phone but since the 4.3 OTA arrived I see a blue/purple haze on very dark areas in lowlight environments. Sometimes I can get away with it focusing on any other area of the shot but most of the time it's impossible to avoid it altogether.01-08-2014 12:11 PMLike 0 - where i live, there's little chance to get a better replacement. i'll probably wait for a month while it's sent to wherever,
and i'll get a phone with the same problem. so i gave this up.
one question:
is there no way to disable ZOE and by this bypass the heating? i don't use it at all.01-08-2014 12:25 PMLike 0 -
- It's definitely a heat thing, as I can take one or 2 pics without blue or purple tint but any more than that, or if I start the camera app after a heavy usage period, the haze is there. The thing I would question about Zoe being the culprit is that it also happens while running my phone as a GPE, which does not have Zoe.01-08-2014 12:34 PMLike 0
- where i live, there's little chance to get a better replacement. i'll probably wait for a month while it's sent to wherever,
and i'll get a phone with the same problem. so i gave this up.
one question:
is there no way to disable ZOE and by this bypass the heating? i don't use it at all.01-08-2014 12:42 PMLike 0 - He said it was heat causing the problem. Agreed ZOE is intensive and can cause the heating but if it gets too hot in another way, the same thing is going to happen.01-08-2014 02:59 PMLike 0
- where i live, there's little chance to get a better replacement. i'll probably wait for a month while it's sent to wherever,
and i'll get a phone with the same problem. so i gave this up.
one question:
is there no way to disable ZOE and by this bypass the heating? i don't use it at all.rozroz likes this.01-08-2014 03:01 PMLike 1 - so, you mean that if i don't activate it in the camera app then it's not "on" inside the system?
it that's so,
it does not improve anything with the heating issue that causes the purple tint.
it's there after 2-3 shots, even in cold weather, and even when i pick up the cold phone and take a picture.
so basically, with all due respect, the ZOE theory is a fail.01-08-2014 03:17 PMLike 0 - so, you mean that if i don't activate it in the camera app then it's not "on" inside the system?
it that's so,
it does not improve anything with the heating issue that causes the purple tint.
it's there after 2-3 shots, even in cold weather, and even when i pick up the cold phone and take a picture.
so basically, with all due respect, the ZOE theory is a fail.01-08-2014 03:40 PMLike 0 - so, you mean that if i don't activate it in the camera app then it's not "on" inside the system?
it that's so,
it does not improve anything with the heating issue that causes the purple tint.
it's there after 2-3 shots, even in cold weather, and even when i pick up the cold phone and take a picture.
so basically, with all due respect, the ZOE theory is a fail.CHILLYWILL_95831 and adriandb like this.01-08-2014 06:29 PMLike 2 - Can't put all the blame on the ZOEs. I have taken just under 200 pics so far and maybe an hour of video. Only 5 ZOEs, and they all looked just fine.
It's when the phone starts heating up past 28 degress C (yes, I did tests), that I start to see the tint artifacts. This is regardless of camera mode/settings for me.
ZOEs will probably make the existing problem worse, but it's not the sole problem here.01-08-2014 10:21 PMLike 0 - They discovered it after it was commercialized.
The 1st report of this issue on XDA was on May while the One begun in April even March,even this report was not considered as important as only 1 or 2 guys got it back then,the defect is taking about 3 to 4 months to appear after production.
Another fact that Zoe has nothing to do with it is that we opened 4 different One from June to August batches and all 4 were having this issue out of the box,meaning the issue was there while nobody even started up the phone,so the defect is probably caused by long term exposure to humidity + heat (stocked in summer's depot for months) or these lens have simply factory faultsrozroz and CHILLYWILL_95831 like this.01-09-2014 05:37 AMLike 2 - They discovered it after it was commercialized.
The 1st report of this issue on XDA was on May while the One begun in April even March,even this report was not considered as important as only 1 or 2 guys got it back then,the defect is taking about 3 to 4 months to appear after production.
Another fact that Zoe has nothing to do with it is that we opened 4 different One from June to August batches and all 4 were having this issue out of the box,meaning the issue was there while nobody even started up the phone,so the defect is probably caused by long term exposure to humidity + heat (stocked in summer's depot for months) or these lens have simply factory faultsKineticMD likes this.01-09-2014 06:48 AMLike 1 - They discovered it after it was commercialized.
The 1st report of this issue on XDA was on May while the One begun in April even March,even this report was not considered as important as only 1 or 2 guys got it back then,the defect is taking about 3 to 4 months to appear after production.
Another fact that Zoe has nothing to do with it is that we opened 4 different One from June to August batches and all 4 were having this issue out of the box,meaning the issue was there while nobody even started up the phone,so the defect is probably caused by long term exposure to humidity + heat (stocked in summer's depot for months) or these lens have simply factory faults
I think people want a nice easy soundbite for the problem. But it's a complex issue so will have a complex answer. It's never going to be "All purple tints are caused by ZOEs".
I do have the purple tint but it's not that bad on my phone to be honest. I can definitely work around it when it does appear (only in very poor light). And I love ZOEs so will continue to use them when required.Loiter and mozreactor like this.01-09-2014 06:57 AMLike 2 - The thing is that the ultrapixel technology was first used in DSLR (Sigma) ,the name was Foveon before becoming ultrapixel.
A DSLR body is naturally way more cool due to internal space,HTC thought they can use the Foveon tech inside a phone but they didn't take the time to test it (they choice was made in the last couple of weeks prior to production),the closed shell of the One and the tiny space easily heat the sensor which is more sensible than an ordinary lens,I bet if they used the 13mp lens they were planning to put in the One it won't had purple tint issue at all.
Leaving the phones in stock all summer long in a 30c environment even if still boxed and not used can harm the ultrapixel lens.
Another possible thing could be battery juice, when I was working at Sony after sales department,we received tons of burned camera lens because of battery juice leakage,Sony replaced them all for free and the culprit was a bad insulation design of battery compartment,perhaps this is the case with the One and it would explain the purple issue with out of the box units...JBeef likes this.01-09-2014 08:27 AMLike 1 -
The lens doesn't "open" or "close"...it's just piece of glass/plastic.
Even if the incorrect terminology was used, swap "lens" for the sensor and it still doesn't make sense. Obviously the sensor is constantly active (open? close? what?) because you can see a picture on the screen, so it makes no sense that Zoe could some how damage it as that is a function of the image processor. On every non-SLR digital camera in the world
Now it's possible there is a defective part somewhere in the chain, but this post lost credibility with me because there is so much nonsensical information.
In my educated opinion this is a white balance issue which should be able to be fixed with a software solution. Or it possibly be ISO related where sensitivity is being pushed to high creating noise which is manifesting itself as this red/purple shift. Either way fixable with software. If it was a hardware issue most likely it would be present in all conditions and not just low light.01-09-2014 02:29 PMLike 0 - I'm going to call BS to this whole post starting with that.
The lens doesn't "open" or "close"...it's just piece of glass/plastic.
Even if the incorrect terminology was used, swap "lens" for the sensor and it still doesn't make sense. Obviously the sensor is constantly active (open? close? what?) because you can see a picture on the screen, so it makes no sense that Zoe could some how damage it as that is a function of the image processor. On every non-SLR digital camera in the world
Now it's possible there is a defective part somewhere in the chain, but this post lost credibility with me because there is so much nonsensical information.
In my educated opinion this is a white balance issue which should be able to be fixed with a software solution. Or it possibly be ISO related where sensitivity is being pushed to high creating noise which is manifesting itself as this red/purple shift. Either way fixable with software. If it was a hardware issue most likely it would be present in all conditions and not just low light.01-09-2014 04:55 PMLike 0 - I'm going to call BS to this whole post starting with that.
The lens doesn't "open" or "close"...it's just piece of glass/plastic.
Even if the incorrect terminology was used, swap "lens" for the sensor and it still doesn't make sense. Obviously the sensor is constantly active (open? close? what?) because you can see a picture on the screen, so it makes no sense that Zoe could some how damage it as that is a function of the image processor. On every non-SLR digital camera in the world
Now it's possible there is a defective part somewhere in the chain, but this post lost credibility with me because there is so much nonsensical information.
In my educated opinion this is a white balance issue which should be able to be fixed with a software solution. Or it possibly be ISO related where sensitivity is being pushed to high creating noise which is manifesting itself as this red/purple shift. Either way fixable with software. If it was a hardware issue most likely it would be present in all conditions and not just low light.01-09-2014 06:37 PMLike 0 - I'm going to call BS to this whole post starting with that.
The lens doesn't "open" or "close"...it's just piece of glass/plastic.
Even if the incorrect terminology was used, swap "lens" for the sensor and it still doesn't make sense. Obviously the sensor is constantly active (open? close? what?) because you can see a picture on the screen, so it makes no sense that Zoe could some how damage it as that is a function of the image processor. On every non-SLR digital camera in the world
Now it's possible there is a defective part somewhere in the chain, but this post lost credibility with me because there is so much nonsensical information.
In my educated opinion this is a white balance issue which should be able to be fixed with a software solution. Or it possibly be ISO related where sensitivity is being pushed to high creating noise which is manifesting itself as this red/purple shift. Either way fixable with software. If it was a hardware issue most likely it would be present in all conditions and not just low light.
They could eliminate some of it, via software, by, lowering the highest ISO sensitivity allowed, but that's a cheap short-cut.
"If it was a hardware issue most likely it would be present in all conditions and not just low light."
Sorry buddy, but that's incorrect. The problem is only present when the sensor sensitivity is high, and for most people who leave the settings on AUTO, the camera will automatically do that when they enter a low light environment. If you manually set it to ISO:1600 and look for a shadow to point it at, you will see the tint once your phone is nice and warmed up.01-09-2014 08:51 PMLike 0 - Still trying to figure out why i'd waste my time posting BS. But, here's the phone number and they do answer directly. Just be emphatic about wanting to know exactly what is causing the camera failure. 18669630953... They do answer within minutes and the first line of response will not net you any real knowledge. My phone is on the way back to me ...BTW the camera module on my phone was replaced with an updated version. I dont have before pics, but i will post after pics when it comes.
A manufacturer, barring some sort of safety incident, will rarely divulge information that makes them look incompetent. "This call may be monitored for training purposes" also means "We're making sure our employees don't say anything to screw us over."
Since you were so persistent, he gave you a speel that sounded reasonable. But it also defies all logic of how cell phone cameras actually operate.
Again, the lenses in cell phone cameras don't have physical shutters and they have a fixed aperture. There is nothing to open or close...CHILLYWILL_95831 likes this.01-09-2014 08:53 PMLike 1
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HTC One: Here's the SKINNY on the infamous PURPLE TINT (thermal defect)
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