Google launches Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro with Tensor processor

Posted:
in General Discussion edited October 2021
Google has launched its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones, complete with its self-designed "Tensor" chip and a 50-megapixel Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera.




Previously teased by the search giant during Google I/O and at the start of October, the event for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro launch on Tuesday had Google providing firm details and specifications for its new smartphone lineup.

The Pixel 6 sports a 6.4-inch display with a 1,080 by 2,340-resolution OLED panel, complete with a 20:9 aspect ratio and 411ppi pixel density. Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus cover glass, the screen has a contrast ratio greater than 1,000,000:1, with HDR support, and 90Hz refresh rate.

The Pixel 6 Pro switches to a 6.7-inch OLED LPTO display with a resolution of 1,440 by 3,120 resolution, giving it a pixel density of 512ppi. Offering an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, the screen has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, a similar greater-than 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, HDR support, and the Victus cover glass.

Powering the Pixel 6 pair is the Tensor system-on-chip of Google's own design. The chip is made with on-device machine learning in mind, with it able to handle automatic speech recognition, live translation that also works with media, computational photography, and video features.




The chip consists of a 2+2+4 design for the CPU, consisting of two high-performance cores, two mid cores, and four high-efficiency cores, along with a 20-core GPU. Security is handled by the "Tensor Security Core" for sensitive task processing, while the "Titan M2" secures passwords and PINs.

On the back is a new camera system for the Pixel line, with a new 1/1.3-inch sensor to capture 150% more light. The 50-MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera includes optical image stabilization, a laser-detect autofocus sensor, and an 82-degree field of view.

Both models also have a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with a 114-degree field of view, with the Pro also having a 48-megapixel telephoto camera complete with a 4x optical zoom.

On the front, the Pixel 6 has an 8-megapixel f/2.0 camera with an 84-degree field of view, while the Pro gains a 11.1-megapixel version with f/2.2 aperture and a 94-degree field of view.

Google's extensive camera features from the previous generation transition to the new models, along with new features. The list includes Magic Eraser, Motion Mode, Real Tone, Face Unblur, and a Locked Folder.

Audio duties are handled by stereo speakers and three mics with noise suppression.

The Pixel 6, starting from $599, is available in three colors with 8GB of memory and in 128GB and 256GB capacities. The Pixel 6 Pro, starting at $899, has 12GB of memory and 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities.

Preorders for both models are now open, with a release date of October 28.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    Yawn. Nothing to see here.
    lordjohnwhorfiniOSDevSWElkruppMacProwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 22
     50-MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera”

    That sure is a lens with a lot of words. I wish I knew what they meant. 
    lordjohnwhorfiniOSDevSWEwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 22
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    “ 50-MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera”

    That sure is a lens with a lot of words. I wish I knew what they meant. 
    And no doubt you'd be berated by Android fans for not being intimately familiar with every technical detail about it
    lordjohnwhorfind.j. adequaterezwitswatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 22
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    “ 50-MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera”

    That sure is a lens with a lot of words. I wish I knew what they meant. 
    Well, I know PD stands for Pumpe Düse, and Octa tells me there are eight of them. Quad, so four cylinders, which means two unit injectors per cylinder. Or maybe it's four per cylinder, two cylinders. Not sure.

    Never heard of the Bayer cycle before, though. Also not entirely clear on why you would want direct-injection diesel in a camera.

    (I'm joking, in case that wasn't abundantly clear. I, too, would like some kind of description of what all of these terms mean in the context of cameras.)
    edited October 2021 d.j. adequateh2pwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 22
    zimmie said:

    Never heard of the Bayer cycle before, though. Also not entirely clear on why you would want direct-injection diesel in a camera.


    I think that this might be an Anti-aliasing filter on the sensor. My first digital camera, a Nikon D100 had one of those.
    50MP is a lot of pixels for such a small sensor.  A Nikon Z7 has a slighlty smaller sensor but in a full 35mm format. It must use the AI to do a lot of Pixel binning.

    The above is all from memory and might be 100% wrong.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 22
    Bayer... as in Bayer filter.  An RGB pattern filter over the camera's sensor.  One color filter per pixel... Red, Green, or Blue.  The image colour data is captured and interpolated for the neighbouring pixels to produce a full colour image.  Virtually all commercial colour sensors employ a Bayer filter solution otherwise you would require three sensors to be used... one per colour.  Not easily implemented in such compact environments as a beam splitting prism would be required too.  Creator of the Bayer filter.... Bryce Bayer... who worked with Eastman Kodak.  Died in 2012 I believe. 
    edited October 2021 muthuk_vanalingamd.j. adequatedk49gatorguyiOSDevSWEgregoriusmfastasleepCloudTalkinrezwitsh2p
  • Reply 7 of 22
    I gotta hand it to google, it's very bold of them to make phones that are this ugly and unwieldy.
    iOSDevSWEh2pAlex_Vwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 22
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    HBCan said:
    Bayer... as in Bayer filter.  An RGB pattern filter over the camera's sensor.  One color filter per pixel... Red, Green, or Blue.  The image colour data is captured and interpolated for the neighbouring pixels to produce a full colour image.  Virtually all commercial colour sensors employ a Bayer filter solution otherwise you would require three sensors to be used... one per colour.  Not easily implemented in such compact environments as a beam splitting prism would be required too.  Creator of the Bayer filter.... Bryce Bayer... who worked with Eastman Kodak.  Died in 2012 I believe. 
    Sure, but the Bayer pattern is naturally a tiled series of squares with two green, one red, one blue photosite per four pixels. Lines up nicely with Pentile display subpixel arrangements. So what in the world is "Quad Bayer"?

    Did a little research, and it turns out it's a Sony variant of the normal Bayer pattern. They turn each photosite into four separate, smaller photosites, then average their values as a way of reducing amplification noise. Thus, the "50 megapixels" is a lie. It has 50 million photosites, but they operate in clusters of four, producing one output pixel value which is still only one channel. It's the equivalent of a 12.5 megapixel sensor.

    Still no idea what Octa PD is supposed to be.
    iOSDevSWEgregoriusmelijahgh2pFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 22
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    Interesting to see a three tier compute core design. I'm curious about how they decide which threads/processes to allocate to each level and how it core selection fits in with the memory caching and thread scheduling algorithms. Google is typically pretty open about sharing their architectural designs so I'll have to do some digging.

    Other than the technical curiosities I don't see anything with the Google phone that would compel entrenched iPhone/iOS users to jump over to the Google side. But it's good that Google and Samsung keep putting pressure on Apple so Apple does not get too complacent. For example, I like the way Google puts the backside warts in a dedicated band so the naked phone can be operated on a flat surface without wobbling like a cheap carnival toy. I've never understood the rationale for asymmetric camera/sensor bumps. Sure, slapping a bumpy back phone in a case fixes it - but why should a case be required to achieve symmetry and balance? It's like the case is a required prosthetic to keep the iPhone from teetering. Grrrr. Just a personal gripe, your opinions will vary.
    iOSDevSWEgregoriusmmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 22
    zimmie said:
    HBCan said:
    Bayer... as in Bayer filter.  An RGB pattern filter over the camera's sensor.  One color filter per pixel... Red, Green, or Blue.  The image colour data is captured and interpolated for the neighbouring pixels to produce a full colour image.  Virtually all commercial colour sensors employ a Bayer filter solution otherwise you would require three sensors to be used... one per colour.  Not easily implemented in such compact environments as a beam splitting prism would be required too.  Creator of the Bayer filter.... Bryce Bayer... who worked with Eastman Kodak.  Died in 2012 I believe. 
    Sure, but the Bayer pattern is naturally a tiled series of squares with two green, one red, one blue photosite per four pixels. Lines up nicely with Pentile display subpixel arrangements. So what in the world is "Quad Bayer"?

    Did a little research, and it turns out it's a Sony variant of the normal Bayer pattern. They turn each photosite into four separate, smaller photosites, then average their values as a way of reducing amplification noise. Thus, the "50 megapixels" is a lie. It has 50 million photosites, but they operate in clusters of four, producing one output pixel value which is still only one channel. It's the equivalent of a 12.5 megapixel sensor.

    Still no idea what Octa PD is supposed to be.
    No sub-pixels on sensors... just one photosite per pixel.  Pixels are grouped under one of the color filters.  This pixel grouping is a form of "binning" which effectively combines groups of pixels together to produce a "super pixel", effectively increasing the photon count and reducing noise as a result.  A good short article at https://www.gsmarena.com/quad_bayer_sensors_explained-news-37459.php explains this decently.
    gregoriusmelijahgwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 22
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    HBCan said:
    zimmie said:
    HBCan said:
    Bayer... as in Bayer filter.  An RGB pattern filter over the camera's sensor.  One color filter per pixel... Red, Green, or Blue.  The image colour data is captured and interpolated for the neighbouring pixels to produce a full colour image.  Virtually all commercial colour sensors employ a Bayer filter solution otherwise you would require three sensors to be used... one per colour.  Not easily implemented in such compact environments as a beam splitting prism would be required too.  Creator of the Bayer filter.... Bryce Bayer... who worked with Eastman Kodak.  Died in 2012 I believe. 
    Sure, but the Bayer pattern is naturally a tiled series of squares with two green, one red, one blue photosite per four pixels. Lines up nicely with Pentile display subpixel arrangements. So what in the world is "Quad Bayer"?

    Did a little research, and it turns out it's a Sony variant of the normal Bayer pattern. They turn each photosite into four separate, smaller photosites, then average their values as a way of reducing amplification noise. Thus, the "50 megapixels" is a lie. It has 50 million photosites, but they operate in clusters of four, producing one output pixel value which is still only one channel. It's the equivalent of a 12.5 megapixel sensor.

    Still no idea what Octa PD is supposed to be.
    No sub-pixels on sensors... just one photosite per pixel.  Pixels are grouped under one of the color filters.  This pixel grouping is a form of "binning" which effectively combines groups of pixels together to produce a "super pixel", effectively increasing the photon count and reducing noise as a result.  A good short article at https://www.gsmarena.com/quad_bayer_sensors_explained-news-37459.php explains this decently.
    Yes, which is why my only mention of subpixels was immediately preceded by the words "Pentile display".  :p

    For resolving purposes, it's clusters of four photosites which all share the same color. This means you only get 6.2 megapixels of green detail, 3.1 of red, and 3.1 of blue. Very misleading to call it a 50 megapixel camera.
    williamlondongregoriusmwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 22
    I gotta hand it to google, it's very bold of them to make phones that are this ugly and unwieldy.
    Google does not pay dividends like Apple. It got plenty of money to burn to make these half baked Pixel 6s. Similar to Microsoft with its monopoly on Windows OS and Office suites, it got plenty of money to burn to experiment on Surface products. 
    williamlondonronnMacPro
  • Reply 13 of 22
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    Oh Google, I forgot you had your little event today. I wonder if I’ll hear about todays releases on the news later like I did yesterday. /S
    ronnwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 22
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,625member
    zimmie said:
    HBCan said:
    Bayer... as in Bayer filter.  An RGB pattern filter over the camera's sensor.  One color filter per pixel... Red, Green, or Blue.  The image colour data is captured and interpolated for the neighbouring pixels to produce a full colour image.  Virtually all commercial colour sensors employ a Bayer filter solution otherwise you would require three sensors to be used... one per colour.  Not easily implemented in such compact environments as a beam splitting prism would be required too.  Creator of the Bayer filter.... Bryce Bayer... who worked with Eastman Kodak.  Died in 2012 I believe. 
    Sure, but the Bayer pattern is naturally a tiled series of squares with two green, one red, one blue photosite per four pixels. Lines up nicely with Pentile display subpixel arrangements. So what in the world is "Quad Bayer"?

    Did a little research, and it turns out it's a Sony variant of the normal Bayer pattern. They turn each photosite into four separate, smaller photosites, then average their values as a way of reducing amplification noise. Thus, the "50 megapixels" is a lie. It has 50 million photosites, but they operate in clusters of four, producing one output pixel value which is still only one channel. It's the equivalent of a 12.5 megapixel sensor.

    Still no idea what Octa PD is supposed to be.
    Can't the sensor output at full 'resolution'?

    Pixel binning to lower megapixel counts is common nowadays but I thought the option was still there to output without pixel binning. 
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 15 of 22
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Where are the posts from the # AI Google fanboy with all the links and references?
    williamlondonGeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 22
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Japhey said:
    Oh Google, I forgot you had your little event today. I wonder if I’ll hear about todays releases on the news later like I did yesterday. /S
    Eventually, when the hard-core PC bloggers like LinusTech drag themselves away from the new Apple products. 
    edited October 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 22
    h2ph2p Posts: 329member
    zimmie said:
    “ 50-MP Octa PD Quad Bayer wide camera”

    That sure is a lens with a lot of words. I wish I knew what they meant. 
    Well, I know PD stands for Pumpe Düse, and Octa tells me there are eight of them. Quad, so four cylinders, which means two unit injectors per cylinder. Or maybe it's four per cylinder, two cylinders. Not sure.

    Never heard of the Bayer cycle before, though. Also not entirely clear on why you would want direct-injection diesel in a camera.

    (I'm joking, in case that wasn't abundantly clear. I, too, would like some kind of description of what all of these terms mean in the context of cameras.)
    Thank you, thank you, thank you, Zimmie. One of the funniest riffs I've heard in quite awhile.
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 22
    avon b7 said:
    zimmie said:
    HBCan said:
    Bayer... as in Bayer filter.  An RGB pattern filter over the camera's sensor.  One color filter per pixel... Red, Green, or Blue.  The image colour data is captured and interpolated for the neighbouring pixels to produce a full colour image.  Virtually all commercial colour sensors employ a Bayer filter solution otherwise you would require three sensors to be used... one per colour.  Not easily implemented in such compact environments as a beam splitting prism would be required too.  Creator of the Bayer filter.... Bryce Bayer... who worked with Eastman Kodak.  Died in 2012 I believe. 
    Sure, but the Bayer pattern is naturally a tiled series of squares with two green, one red, one blue photosite per four pixels. Lines up nicely with Pentile display subpixel arrangements. So what in the world is "Quad Bayer"?

    Did a little research, and it turns out it's a Sony variant of the normal Bayer pattern. They turn each photosite into four separate, smaller photosites, then average their values as a way of reducing amplification noise. Thus, the "50 megapixels" is a lie. It has 50 million photosites, but they operate in clusters of four, producing one output pixel value which is still only one channel. It's the equivalent of a 12.5 megapixel sensor.

    Still no idea what Octa PD is supposed to be.
    Can't the sensor output at full 'resolution'?

    Pixel binning to lower megapixel counts is common nowadays but I thought the option was still there to output without pixel binning. 
    Yes, you are right. The sensor can output at full resolution as well.
  • Reply 19 of 22
    Interesting to see default 90Hz refresh rate rather than scaling up to 120Hz and down to 60Hz that Apple chooses. And the machine learning capabilities will be compared to the A15/M1-class chips pretty soon, too.

    I find the display ratios quite unusual; I wonder what tradeoffs will be required for media playback and whether the overall experience will be acceptable.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 22
    So even better low-light photography and pretty awesome ML capabilities. Great upgrade.
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