Why Flare Matters in Smartphone Imaging

In real-life photography, strong light sources such as the sun, streetlights, or backlit environments can introduce flare artifacts that significantly impact image quality. These artifacts are primarily caused by internal reflections of light within the camera module and may appear as haze, ghosting, or unwanted light patterns spreading across the frame. Their intensity and visual impact depend on the angle of incidence of the light sources, and they tend to be particularly pronounced when a bright source is directly within the field of view. As a result, contrast is reduced, fine details are degraded, and overall image clarity is compromised.

For smartphone manufacturers, controlling flare is not just a visual improvement it directly affects user perception of camera quality. Delivering consistent, high-quality images in all lighting conditions requires a deep understanding of how flare behaves.

The Challenge of Measuring Flare

 

Measuring flare is inherently complex because it depends on multiple variables, including light intensity, angle, lens design, and sensor characteristics. In uncontrolled environments, even small changes in positioning or lighting can produce very different results, making comparisons unreliable. Traditional evaluation methods often rely on subjective visual analysis, which limits reproducibility and slows down development cycles. To effectively improve performance, manufacturers need a way to isolate flare and evaluate it under consistent conditions. This requires standardized testing protocols, precise control of light sources, and objective metrics that can be tracked over time. Without these elements, optimizing flare handling becomes a trial-and-error process rather than a data-driven approach.

See our image quality expert demonstrate the flare bench in the lab

The DXOMARK Flare Bench Solution

To overcome these challenges, DXOMARK has developed a dedicated flare bench designed to replicate complex lighting scenarios in a fully controlled lab environment. The system also enables systematic testing across multiple angles relative to the camera module, ensuring a comprehensive and repeatable evaluation of flare behavior under varying light incidence conditions. This solution allows precise and consistent assessment of flare performance across devices.

Key benefits of the flare bench include:

    • Controlled lighting conditions: Carefully calibrated light sources reproduce challenging real-world scenarios with high precision
    • Repeatability: Consistent camera positioning and multi-angle testing ensure reliable comparisons across multiple tests and devices
    • Isolation of flare artifacts: The system separates flare from other image quality factors for more accurate analysis
    • Hardware vs. software analysis: RAW-based evaluation isolates the impact of optical and hardware design, while RGB measurements assess the influence of image processing algorithms
    • Objective measurement: Quantifiable metrics replace subjective visual evaluation, enabling data-driven decisions
    • Benchmarking capability: Standardized testing allows manufacturers to compare performance and track improvements over time

While flare is most noticeable in real-world use cases, accurate evaluation requires the precision of laboratory testing. The DXOMARK flare bench bridges this gap by combining realistic lighting conditions with scientific measurement methods. This ensures that the insights gained in the lab are directly relevant to everyday photography scenarios.

To learn more about our Flare solution