Introducing staggered HDR into smartphones lets you take the most amazing shots yet.

A fresh leak from developer Kuba Wojciechowski indicates that next year’s Google Pixel 8 could include an upgraded camera sensor and support for staggered HDR. This means that you’ll be able to take clearer, more detailed shots faster in less-than-ideal photography conditions.

Google’s 2023 flagship Pixels to include support for staggered HDR – 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ZfWtwQBykY

— Kuba Wojciechowski⚡ (@Za_Raczke) December 19, 2022

The leak gets into a lot of technical jargon that’s hard to decipher for most. But, the main takeaway is that Wojciechowski dug into the code for Google Camera Go and found a line that reads, “REQUEST_STAGGERED_HDR_MODE,” indicating the Pixel 8 could at least be capable of supporting staggered HDR, given the proper hardware.

Since the current generation of Pixel phones doesn’t support staggered HDR, Wojciechowski speculates that the Pixel 8 will come equipped with the Samsung GN1 sensor, which does.

The way Pixel phones process HDR photos now is by taking multiple shots at different exposures over the course of a few seconds or less, then combining them into a single image. And if you’re not holding your phone perfectly still, this can lead to blurry photos.

Staggered HDR solves this problem by simultaneously capturing multiple images at various exposures, eliminating the need to hold your phone perfectly still while HDR photos are captured. It also improves photos in mixed-lighting conditions by capturing short, middle, and long exposures and preserving the detail for all of them.

While there’s no official word on when the Pixel 8 will be released, if Google follows its annual schedule of the past few years, you can expect the Pixel 8 to hit store shelves in October 2023.

Sources: Android Central, Android Authority