DXOMARK is an industry-leading supplier of image quality testing hardware and software (Analyzer), and consulting services, as well as the publisher of DXOMARK.com. Formerly part of DxO Labs, we are now an independent private company headquartered in Paris, France, with offices in Taiwan and the USA, and with distributors in China, Japan, and Taiwan.
As of November 2018, DXOMARK.com has been online for 10 years! Here’s a glimpse of our new office on our 10-year anniversary:
DXOMARK introduced test protocols to evaluate performance of smartphone cameras for wide-angle and night photos. Both test protocols take into account various representative and challenging consumer use-cases, lighting conditions and phone settings. DXOMARK.com will regularly publish mobile rear camera reviews and scores for Wide and Night under its DXOMARK Camera (previously called DxOMark Mobile) test protocol.
While a third of smartphone users take selfies, most smartphone camera testing involves only the rear camera. In January, DXOMARK.com launched DXOMARK Selfie, an image quality benchmark for smartphone front cameras. DXOMARK Selfie assesses selfie camera such quality attributes as color sensitivity, noise, MTF, etc., based on 1500+ images and 2+ hours of video in various real-life and lab settings. We carefully designed the testing protocol to include common selfie use cases under various lighting conditions.
Supporting its expansion plans, DXOMARK moved to a new office in Boulogne-Billancourt near Paris. This new space contains 5 new labs and accommodates twice as many people as the previous office.
DXOMARK.com has now been online for more than 10 years since its introduction in 2008. During this period, DXOMARK.com has established itself as an irrefutable source of in-depth image quality reviews of smartphones, cameras, and lenses. As a unique objective source of image quality benchmarks, leaders of industry often present the DXOMARK scores of their devices during launch events and keynotes. The press also refers to DXOMARK scores when reporting on camera image quality.
Analyzer overhauled its autofocus testing module by introducing dynamic scenes and automation. Analyzer 7 users can now test autofocus in a dynamic lab setup that mimics real life. A unique Automated Moving Object (AMO), introduced in this module, allows testers save time and energy while improving the accuracy of test results.
This new and unique dynamic setup for testing High Dynamic Range (HDR) can automatically simulate two different lighting levels simultaneously, allowing users to assess a camera’s dynamic range capability in a controlled and repeatable setting.
In September 2017, DXOMARK Image Labs (now “DXOMARK”) spun off from DxO Labs (which still commercializes consumer photography software and camera products). As an independent company, DXOMARK product lines currently include our flagship Analyzer hardware and software solution for image quality testing, benchmarking, and tuning; our image quality consulting and testing business; and the DXOMARK.com website.
In 2017, DXOMARK Camera (previously called DXOMARK Mobile) received its first major overhaul and was expanded to include over 1,500 test images and two hours of video for each device tested. Additionally, we added tests to cover the Zoom and Bokeh (Depth) features becoming common on newer smartphone models.
Bokeh is now a common feature among most flagship smartphones, and portrait shots with blurred backgrounds are very popular among smartphone users. In keeping with this trend, our R&D team developed a dedicated test setup for Bokeh.
As readers from China form a large part of our audience, we launched DXOMARK.com/cn to give our Chinese-speaking audience better access to DXOMARK Camera reviews.
DXOMARK.com expanded to include image quality reviews of smartphone rear cameras. Each product we review is assigned a DXOMARK Mobile score (now called DXOMARK Camera score) composed of a variety of sub-scores that allow for a more detailed understanding of the pros and cons of the tested device’s main camera.
Video testing developed under Analyzer includes video stabilization and video noise.
DXOMARK.com introduces DXOMARK Lens, a metric to assess the image quality of lenses. The testing protocol includes mounting lenses on cameras and measuring the following attributes: resolution, derived from the MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) measurement; distortion and chromatic aberrations; vignetting; and light transmission (T-stop).
We launched DXOMARK.com as a free online source of in-depth camera reviews. Each DSC and DSLR camera reviewed on the website is assigned a unique DXOMARK Sensor score, determined by assessing color, noise, and the ISO sensitivity of RAW images taken with the device being tested. Analyzer is established as the data factory for the objective measurements that DXOMARK Sensor uses.
Analyzer undergoes a major update to include various new modules and charts related to photo quality, including a 15-patch noise chart developed to allow measurement of noise and texture. Other features in Analyzer allow the measurement of color fidelity, color sensitivity, flash, and MTF. This marks an important first step in the evolution of Analyzer as a reference for image quality testing.
DXOMARK began as the image quality evaluation (IQE) team of DxO Labs when it was founded in 2003. The IQE team introduced its first product that year, Analyzer (previously called DxO Analyzer)— the first comprehensive suite of hardware and software for camera testing and tuning, as well as for assessing distortion, sharpness, and vignetting, among other image quality attributes. Besides providing this solution to the industry, the team used its expertise to support the design of image processors (ISPs) for many leading smartphone brands over the following decade.
