Hello,
Today I noticed that my Z1 camera has a significant number of pixel errors in HDR mode. There are over 100 small blue, green, and yellow dots scattered across the image. Both lenses are affected equally.
I looked back at some pictures from last year and found pixel errors there as well, but the issue seems to have gotten much worse in the latest images.
The firmware version is 3.30.2.
Is there any way to fix the pixel errors, or is the camera beyond repair?
Best regards,
Kay
this may be dead or hot pixels, see this article for an explanation -
also note that HDR merge may in some cases generate false color noise which could also be what you are describing, this can also come from exposure value vs available light in a given area of a 360 scene in single exposure or HDR image
dead pixels will show up in all DNG images in same exact position in every image, whereas false color noise would not always show in same exact pixel position
you could also have both of these factors and others affecting your images
newer ai denoise methods from adobe etc do not do a good job dealing with noise in HDR at this time, but they are generally ok for other types of noise single exposure DNG RAW files
I don’t mean the noise in HDR or dark photos. These colorful pixels are always in the same place on the photos. The pixels are also visible in non-HDR photos, but not as intensely, as the images are slightly noisy.
When the sun shines again, I’ll take a few pictures outside and check whether the pixels are visible there too.
if they are always in the same place they are likely “hot” or “dead” pixels on the image sensors, and they may be easier or harder to see depending on the image, but they will always be there somehow
hot pixels and dead pixels are not the same thing, and your sensor could have a combination of both, which i bet is the case w a few pixels on most cameras
“hot” pixels have basically been overloaded and are stuck in “on” position, and these pixels may in some cases be fixable as explained in link i posted above, and they typically appear as bright pixels as you described
A hot pixel is sort of the opposite of a dead pixel. It is also a pixel that is malfunctioning, however, a “hot” pixel defaults to its “all-on” state. For example, this can be common when doing extremely long exposures, because the sensor is almost overheating, and individual pixels just start “acting up”. This is mostly known as long exposure noise, but it can also cause a hot pixel that may last for a while.
Thankfully, hot pixels are basically still “alive”, for lack of a better term, and can therefore be easier to fix. On cameras and most displays, a hot pixel can sometimes be fixed by either flashing the sensor/display on/off, or with light and dark colors, to “shock” the pixel into reacting to the electric currents. Other times, a hot pixel merely appears when a sensor is overheating, and can go away with time/cooling. If such solutions don’t work, then most devices also have a pixel mapping function that allows the sensor/display to check each pixel, and either jolt it back to proper function or use what is essentially built-in Photoshop to clone out that pixel using surrounding pixels
but dead pixels are just dead, and typically appear as dark spots so this may not be your issue
A dead pixel is a pixel on a camera sensor or a digital display that has stopped functioning and has defaulted to an “off” position. This will result in that pixel appearing black in any pictures a camera sensor captures
Unfortunately, a dead pixel doesn’t really have an easy fix. If the pixel is truly defective and “dead”, then there is a slim-to-none chance that the pixel can just be turned back on.
if there are only a few dead pixels you can usually deal with it via photoshop etc, but if there are a lot of them it may be time to retire that camera
also see this link for more info and slightly different definitions of hot/stuck/dead pixel issues