Google Addresses Lens Flare Issue With Pixel, Pixel XL Cameras; Software Fix Is On Its Way

Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones come with pretty impressive cameras, but users are reporting cases of unwanted, excessive lens flares when taking photos. Google has acknowledged the issue and promises to deliver a software update to fix it.

The cameras on Google’s Pixel phones have been given a DxOMark score of 89 beating the iPhone 7 (86) and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (88). However, users have been reporting online — both on Google’s Pixel Community forums and Reddit — that photos produced by the Pixel phones keep on getting unwanted “halo” lens flares.

Lens flares are usually caused by different issues like excess light reflecting inside a camera’s lens, or light reflecting on the surface of the lens itself. Photographers sometimes use this for artistic effect, but of course lens flares can ruin photos especially for casual users. Luckily, Google has caught wind of the lens flare issue and is now working on a fix.

“You can expect a software update in the next few weeks that will improve the effects of this issue,” Google employee nicknamed IsaacOnCamera said on the Pixel Community forums. “We’re working on some algorithms that recognize the halo/arc flare, characterize it mathematically, and then subtract it from the image.”

He also noted that the upcoming software update will specifically be for the Pixel and Pixel XL’s HDR+ mode on the camera app. This also means that once the software update is rolled out, users should turn on HDR+ in order see the improvements, according to Engadget.

Since this is an issue that can be fixed through a software update and not caused by faulty hardware, there’s no need for users to ask for a replacement. If users do get a replacement unit, they will most likely just encounter the same problem. Pixel and Pixel XL owners will simply just have to wait for the software update to arrive in the next couple of weeks to get rid of the unwanted lens flares.