Develop Reference

Low quality picture and what's the usage of overriding surfaceChanged when using Android Camera API

I have a problem for my application, specifically, when I want to take a picture (from android Camera API) and send it to my server, I got some strange pictures like following example:
which contain many noise points and actually the size/resolution are very small (176*144 pixels). And this is my original code for surfaceChanged:
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {
// start preview with new settings
try {
Camera.Parameters parameters = mCamera.getParameters();
parameters.set("orientation", "portrait");
mCamera.setDisplayOrientation(90);
mCamera.setPreviewDisplay(mHolder);
mCamera.startPreview();
} catch (Exception e){
Log.e(LOG_TAG, "Error starting camera preview: " + e.getMessage());
}
mCamera.startPreview();
}
And I tried to ask some classmates for this issue, they don't know but one of them give the following code:
#Override
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder arg0, int arg1, int arg2, int arg3) {
try {
// camera.stopPreview();
// Camera.Parameters mParameters = camera.getParameters();
Camera.Parameters parameters = mCamera.getParameters();
Camera.Size optiSize = getBestPreviewSize(720, 720);
if (optiSize != null) {
parameters.setPreviewSize(optiSize.width, optiSize.height);
parameters.setPictureSize(optiSize.width, optiSize.height);
}
parameters.set("orientation", "portrait");
mCamera.setDisplayOrientation(90);
List<String> focusModes = parameters.getSupportedFocusModes();
if (focusModes.contains(Camera.Parameters.FOCUS_MODE_AUTO)) {
parameters.setFocusMode(Camera.Parameters.FOCUS_MODE_AUTO);
}
mCamera.setParameters(parameters);
// mParameters.setFlashMode(Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_TORCH);
// camera.setParameters(mParameters); // apply the changes
} catch (Exception e) {
// older phone - doesn't support these calls
}
mCamera.startPreview();
}
private Camera.Size getBestPreviewSize(int width, int height) {
List<Camera.Size> sizes = mCamera.getParameters()
.getSupportedPreviewSizes();
if (sizes == null)
return null;
Camera.Size optimalSize = null;
int tmpSize;
int minWidthDiff = 1000;
for (Camera.Size size : sizes) {
if (size.width > size.height)
tmpSize = size.height;
else
tmpSize = size.width;
if (Math.abs(tmpSize - width) < minWidthDiff) {
minWidthDiff = Math.abs(tmpSize - width);
optimalSize = size;
}
}
return optimalSize;
}
And this one works pretty well, it can store the original picture with the full resolution. Although I modify a little bit of my other codes to make the new codes compatible with my system, (add AutoFocus, for example). But I think the problem occurs because the method surfaceChanged because if I take image only with Autofocus, it still not work.
Therefore my question is: why this method will influence the quality of my image. I thought this method is only called when we "change" the surface, something like rotate the screen. But apparently it do something more than that?
Can anybody give me some help? Or some posts to explain this fact? Thank you very much in advance.

This method is called when the surface is changed, e.g. it is resized. It is common to adjust some of the camera's parameters to better fit the new configurations (such as setting an appropriate preview size).
What you are doing in the first code is you're getting the camera's Camera.Parameters, set a key-value pair (by the way, the documentation does not mention any parameter with the key "orientation" - it probably has no meaning). What you forgot to do is to apply the new parameters to the camera using Camera.setParameters(). Then again, without actually setting any valid parameters, this would have no effect.
This leads to the low-quality picture issue. You should use the Camera.Parameters object to set a desired preview and picture size. In the second block of code, this is done inside getBestPreviewSize(). A list of available preview sizes is got and the most fitting one is chosen based on the preview's size. It might be helpful to set a satisfactory picture size, too.
The thing is, different devices have different set of supported values for the parameters. If you want to provide a consistent functionality, you should check the supported values using Camera.Parameters.getSupported* methods and set them accordingly.

takePicture() fails with Error -2147483648

I use Camera.Parameters#setPictureSize() in my application to get the higher resolution image for Camera#takePicture().
I use Camera.Parameters#getSupportedPictureSizes to get this size.
This works fine, except on a Sony Xperia S : in Logcat, the only thing I get after calling Camera#takePicture() is a line saying :
Error -2147483648
I finally managed to discover that the best picture size of this phone was 4000x3000, which seemed far too big for me.
Si I tried by setting the picture size manually at 1920x1080, and takePicture worked, then.
Here is my code for getting best picture size :
private Camera.Size getBestPictureSize(int width, int height,
Camera.Parameters parameters) {
Camera.Size result = null;
for (Camera.Size size : parameters.getSupportedPictureSizes()) {
Log.d(this.getClass().getName(), "getBestPictureSize() - s(n) = "
+ size.width + "x" + size.height);
if (result == null) {
result = size;
} else {
if (size.width > result.width) {
result = size;
}
}
}
return result;
}
So, do you know a way to get the best picture size of a device, and being sure that takePicture will work as expected ?

Maybe not the best solution, but this is what I use in a project I'm working on.-
private Size getPreferredPictureSize() {
Size res = null;
List<Size> sizes = camera.getParameters().getSupportedPictureSizes();
for (Size s : sizes) {
float ratio = (float) s.width / (float) s.height;
if (ratio == defaultCameraRatio && s.height <= PHOTO_HEIGHT_THRESHOLD) {
res = s;
break;
}
}
return res;
}
Where defaultCameraRatio is the aspect ratio of the default camera resolution; you can get it like this.-
Camera.Parameters params = camera.getParameters();
defaultCameraRatio = (float) params.getPictureSize().width / (float) params.getPictureSize().height;
And PHOTO_HEIGHT_THRESHOLD is a 'reasonable' max height, such as 960. So, in summary, you will get a smaller resolution keeping the same aspect ratio as the default one.

Samsung Galaxy S4 , Image gets corrupted while taking from camera

I'm using camera on my app. Camera is working perfect on all devices upto Samsung S3 even. Image is correct from all other devices.
While taking image from S4 , image gets corrupted and image gets saved with some lines in horizontal.
I tried changing resolution and everything but still issue is there .
Any help

I've been pulling my hair out over this and I think I found the issue, at least with regards to my app - it's got something to do with the aspect ratio of the preview image versus the captured image.
In my case, my code was sniffing out the ideal preview size based on the aspect ratio of the screen. The S4 is a 1080p phone, so the preview image was 1920x1080, which is a 16:9 aspect ratio. But my code was hardcoded to capturing a 1600x1200 image, which is 4:3, because that's all I needed. But 1600x1200 is not one of the valid sizes the S4 supports.
Without setting the size, the S4 captured 4128x3096, which is the maximum size, and is 4:3, but the lines still appeared. Once I told the camera to capture a 16:9 photo, the lines went away. In your case, you might want to adjust the preview's aspect ratio.
Here's some code which can tell you the available sizes.
List<Camera.Size> previewSizes = p.getSupportedPreviewSizes();
int i = 1;
for (Size previewSize : previewSizes) {
Log.v("DebugCamera", "previewSize " + i++ + " width: " + previewSize.width + " height: " + previewSize.height);
}

Just tried this code on S4 and it works. Try it:
private Camera.Size getBestPreviewSize(int width, int height)
{
Camera.Size result=null;
Camera.Parameters p = camera.getParameters();
for (Camera.Size size : p.getSupportedPreviewSizes()) {
if (size.width<=width && size.height<=height) {
if (result==null) {
result=size;
} else {
int resultArea=result.width*result.height;
int newArea=size.width*size.height;
if (newArea>resultArea) {
result=size;
}
}
}
}
return result;
}
public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
if(myCamera == null){
myCamera = getCameraInstance();
try {
myCamera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder) {
// empty. Take care of releasing the Camera preview in your activity.
// Surface will be destroyed when we return, so stop the preview.
if (myCamera != null)
{
myCamera.stopPreview();
myCamera.setPreviewCallback(null);
myCamera.release();
}
}
#Override
public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int width, int height) {
//This line helped me set the preview Display Orientation to Portrait
//Only works API Level 8 and higher unfortunately.
camera.setDisplayOrientation(90);
Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();
Camera.Size size = getBestPreviewSize(width, height);
parameters.setPreviewSize(size.width, size.height);
camera.setParameters(parameters);
camera.startPreview();
}

Android camera setDisplayOrientation: strange behavior for galaxy tab

I face a problem a problem trying to have a camera preview in portrait mode. I have read various articles about it and I had solved it having the following code:
Display display = ((CaptureActivity)context).getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay();
int width = display.getWidth();
int height = display.getHeight();
if (Integer.parseInt(Build.VERSION.SDK) >= 8) {
setDisplayOrientation(camera, 90);
}else{
Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();
parameters.set("orientation", "portrait");
camera.setParameters(parameters);
}
where setDisplayOrientation() is defined as:
protected void setDisplayOrientation(Camera camera, int angle) {
Method downPolymorphic;
try {
downPolymorphic = camera.getClass().getMethod(
"setDisplayOrientation", new Class[] { int.class });
if (downPolymorphic != null)
downPolymorphic.invoke(camera, new Object[] { angle });
} catch (Exception e1) {
}
}
Now I tried this code to a Galaxy Tab and it failed. I solved it (trying and error approach) using the following code:
if (height == 1024 && width == 600) {
Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();
parameters.set("orientation", "portrait");
parameters.setRotation(90);
camera.setParameters(parameters);
}
Now my two questions are:
1) Why there is such problem while Galaxy tab has the 2.2 version, and
2) Is there any better solution to this problem?
Thanks a lot for your time!

for setting the display orientation check out the official docs, dont just hardcode 90 degrees there.

RuntimeException on Camera.setParameters() on nexus one

I copied the code from the answer here and I still am getting a RuntimeException: setParameters failed error on my nexus one. My manifest file has camera and wake_lock permissions. This works on the emulator, and on the droid I don't get the error but it does have a rotation problem.

You're most likely requsting an invalid preview size. If you check the results of adb logcat you'll probably see something like this:
E/QualcommCameraHardware(22732): Invalid preview size requested: 480x724
The solution is to request the closest available preview size to the one you'd like; you can get a list of available preview sizes by calling getSupportedPreviewSizes in the Camera.Parameters object returned by Camera.getParameters.

I corrected this by doing what Roman said, with the code:
Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();
List<Camera.Size> sizes = parameters.getSupportedPreviewSizes();
Camera.Size cs = sizes.get(0);
parameters.setPreviewSize(cs.width, cs.height);
camera.setParameters(parameters);

For what it's worth, the source of my issue ended up being that I was trying to call parameters.setFlashMode(Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_OFF); without first verifying that flash modes were supported by checking that parameters.getFlashMode() != null.
There's more than one cause for this poorly documented exception, so check all of your parameters and not just that you're using a supportedPreviewSize.

None of the above solved this for me. Adding this code before setting the parameters did though.
// stop preview before making changes
try {
mCamera.stopPreview();
} catch (Exception e){
// ignore: tried to stop a non-existent preview
}
//now set your parameters

For me this would happen after taking a photo and the preview would freeze, until I updated my call for parameters to be the following. It is always important with this error to make sure you check all of the parameters that the camera is asking to set to make sure that every parameter you are asking the camera to set itself to is possible for the camera.
Camera.Parameters parameters = myCamera.getParameters();
With the preview size:
if (myCamera.getParameters().getSupportedPreviewSizes() != null){
Camera.Size previewSize = getOptimalPreviewSize(myCamera.getParameters().getSupportedPreviewSizes(), width, height);;
parameters.setPreviewSize(previewSize.width, previewSize.height);
}
With the flash/focus modes:
if(parameters.getSupportedFocusModes() != null && parameters.getSupportedFocusModes().contains(Camera.Parameters.FOCUS_MODE_CONTINUOUS_PICTURE)){
parameters.setFocusMode(Camera.Parameters.FOCUS_MODE_CONTINUOUS_PICTURE);
}
if (parameters.getSupportedFlashModes() != null && parameters.getSupportedFlashModes().contains(Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_AUTO)){
parameters.setFlashMode(Camera.Parameters.FLASH_MODE_AUTO);
}
myCamera.setParameters(parameters);
etc. All of this wrapped in a nice try{}catch(){} works great. Good luck.
Here is the getOptimalPreview Size from this great tutorial:
private Camera.Size getOptimalPreviewSize(List<Camera.Size> sizes, int width, int height)
{
// Source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7942378/android-camera-will-not-work-startpreview-fails
Camera.Size optimalSize = null;
final double ASPECT_TOLERANCE = 0.1;
double targetRatio = (double) height / width;
// Try to find a size match which suits the whole screen minus the menu on the left.
for (Camera.Size size : sizes){
if (size.height != width) continue;
double ratio = (double) size.width / size.height;
if (ratio <= targetRatio + ASPECT_TOLERANCE && ratio >= targetRatio - ASPECT_TOLERANCE){
optimalSize = size;
}
}
// If we cannot find the one that matches the aspect ratio, ignore the requirement.
if (optimalSize == null) {
// TODO : Backup in case we don't get a size.
}
return optimalSize;
}

the solution from Sam is correct but the output image is still zoomed a little bit on several tablet devices. One of the best practices that I found on Internet, we should set in Camera host so that the properties will be re-used each time the camera is resumed. Here is implemented method in CameraHost:
#Override
public Parameters adjustPreviewParameters(Parameters parameters) {
List<Camera.Size> sizes = parameters.getSupportedPreviewSizes();
Camera.Size cs = sizes.get(0);
parameters.setPreviewSize(cs.width, cs.height);
return super.adjustPreviewParameters(parameters);
}

Some open source camera project like opencamera always use try-catch to call Camera.setParameters:
private void setCameraParameters(Camera.Parameters parameters) {
if( MyDebug.LOG )
Log.d(TAG, "setCameraParameters");
try {
camera.setParameters(parameters);
if( MyDebug.LOG )
Log.d(TAG, "done");
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
// just in case something has gone wrong
if( MyDebug.LOG )
Log.d(TAG, "failed to set parameters");
e.printStackTrace();
count_camera_parameters_exception++;
}
}
in addition，always get the latest getParameters before you call setParameters like this:
void setRotation(int rotation) {
Camera.Parameters parameters = this.getParameters();
parameters.setRotation(rotation);
setCameraParameters(parameters);
}