en/devices/camera/camera3.html

page.title=Camera HAL3
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<p>
Android's camera Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) connects the higher level
camera framework APIs in
<a href="http://developer.android.com/reference/android/hardware/Camera.html">android.hardware.Camera</a>
to your underlying camera driver and hardware. Android 5.0 introduced a new,
underlying implementation of the camera stack. If you have previously developed
a camera HAL module and driver for older versions of Android, be aware of
significant changes in the camera pipeline.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The new camera HAL is in active
development and can change at any time. This document describes the high-level
design of the camera subsystem; for details, see
<a href="{@docRoot}devices/camera/versioning.html">Camera Version Support</a>.</p>

<h2 id="overview">Camera HAL1 overview</h2>

<p>Version 1 of the camera subsystem was designed as a black box with high-level
controls and the following three operating modes:</p>

<ul>
<li>Preview</li>
<li>Video Record</li>
<li>Still Capture</li>
</ul>

<p>Each mode has slightly different and overlapping capabilities. This made it
hard to implement new types of features, such as burst mode, since it would fall
between two of these modes.</p>

<img src="images/camera_block.png" alt="Camera block diagram" id="figure1" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 1.</strong> Camera components</p>

<p>Android 7.0 continues to support camera HAL1 as many devices still rely on
it. In addition, the Android camera service supports implementing both HALs (1
and 3), which is useful when you want to support a less-capable front-facing
camera with camera HAL1 and a more advanced back-facing camera with camera
HAL3.</p>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Camera HAL2 is not supported as it was a
temporary step on the way to camera HAL3.</p>

<p>There is a single camera HAL <em>module</em> (with its own
<a href="{@docRoot}devices/camera/versioning.html#module_version">version
number</a>), which lists multiple independent camera devices that each have
their own version number. Camera module 2 or newer is required to support
devices 2 or newer, and such camera modules can have a mix of camera device
versions (this is what we mean when we say Android supports implementing both
HALs).</p>

<h2 id="v3-enhance">Camera HAL3 enhancements</h2>

<p>The aim of the Android Camera API redesign is to substantially increase the
ability of applications to control the camera subsystem on Android devices while
reorganizing the API to make it more efficient and maintainable. The additional
control makes it easier to build high-quality camera applications on Android
devices that can operate reliably across multiple products while still using
device-specific algorithms whenever possible to maximize quality and
performance.</p>

<p>Version 3 of the camera subsystem structures the operation modes into a
single unified view, which can be used to implement any of the previous modes
and several others, such as burst mode. This results in better user control for
focus and exposure and more post-processing, such as noise reduction, contrast
and sharpening. Further, this simplified view makes it easier for application
developers to use the camera's various functions.</p>
<p>The API models the camera subsystem as a pipeline that converts incoming
requests for frame captures into frames, on a 1:1 basis. The requests
encapsulate all configuration information about the capture and processing of a
frame. This includes resolution and pixel format; manual sensor, lens and flash
control; 3A operating modes; RAW->YUV processing control; statistics generation;
and so on.</p>

<p>In simple terms, the application framework requests a frame from the camera
subsystem, and the camera subsystem returns results to an output stream. In
addition, metadata that contains information such as color spaces and lens
shading is generated for each set of results. You can think of camera version 3
as a pipeline to camera version 1's one-way stream. It converts each capture
request into one image captured by the sensor, which is processed into:</p>

<ul>
<li>A Result object with metadata about the capture.</li>
<li>One to N buffers of image data, each into its own destination Surface.</li>
</ul>

<p>The set of possible output Surfaces is preconfigured:</p>

<ul>
<li>Each Surface is a destination for a stream of image buffers of a fixed
resolution.</li>
<li>Only a small number of Surfaces can be configured as outputs at once (~3).
</li>
</ul>

<p>A request contains all desired capture settings and the list of output
Surfaces to push image buffers into for this request (out of the total
configured set). A request can be one-shot (with <code>capture()</code>), or it
may be repeated indefinitely (with <code>setRepeatingRequest()</code>). Captures
have priority over repeating requests.</p>

<img src="images/camera_simple_model.png" alt="Camera data model" id="figure2" />
<p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 2.</strong> Camera core operation model</p>