Wire-android: Video stream is to dark in low light.

[RebelCoderRU]

Good day.

[Bug description]
Video stream is to dark in low light. Auto-exposure or white balance seems to be broken.

[Scenario]
Call from android to android in low light or just a evening street light. Your image is barely visible in those conditions.

[Device info]
Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (was sending the dark image)
Samsung A7 (was receiving the dark image)
Both are on Android 6.0.1

[Screenshots]
Here are two screenshots from exactly the same spot on Wire and Skype:

[mykola-mokhnach]

@jspittka FYI

[mykola-mokhnach]

Many thanks for your report @RebelCoderRU. We are investigating the issue.

[RebelCoderRU]

Happy to help! Keep it up and make this software good!

[bjoernherbig]

@c-g-owen

[RebelCoderRU]

This issue is still in the latest update. Did a call yesterday in a fully lit room, and my image was way to dark to see. I was on Galaxy A9 Pro (Android 6.0.1) and my image was to dark, but opponents image was good and she was on Galaxy A7 - 2016 (Android 6.0.1)

[mykola-mokhnach]

Thanks for the update. We are informed the issue, but it may take more time to investigate and fix it.

[RebelCoderRU]

Very strange, as my image is always dark now, so I can;t really make video calls.

[c-g-owen]

Unfortunately I don't have those devices to hand but I checked the difference between Wire & Skype on a Nexus 6P, HTC One & iPhone 6 calling to desktop.

I can see that the contrast is higher on Wire (lights are lighter, darks are darker). This could explain the issue in the screenshots. I will investigate a bit more.

[theincogtion]

Same problem here, Wire video feed is very dark. It happens on Android and on windows

[RebelCoderRU]

Reporting back again. 9 out of 10 calls on Android result in a Dark video stream. Please fix that ASAP as we have to go back to Skype and other closed-source software constantly, delaying our family and friends switch to Wire.

[RebelCoderRU]

I think I have this figured out. On Android, when you start a video call, while you are waiting for a person you are calling to pick up, you are seeing your own video full screen. It is shaded and has a dark overlay. When a person you are calling picks up the video call, this dark overlay goes away and video stream is OK.

So it seems, that when you call, this dark overlay does not go away sometimes, and your video is dark for you and your opponent. Person you are calling, the one, that picks up the video call, always has a clear bright video stream.

When will this be fixed? This is a Major, software breaking bug. Please prioritize.

[c-g-owen]

Thanks for the extra info. I have made a change to video rendering that will improve brightness, which will go through QA and arrive in a release soon. We will investigate the overlay issue.

[RebelCoderRU]

I will test here too as soon as a new build shows up. Are you planing to enable Beta/Alpha version in Google Play store ?

[hakonbo]

Hey guys, thanks for reporting. I'm having trouble reproducing this, but maybe you can check one thing for me? Tap the screen a few times, to bring out the controls and remove them again (or just wait a bit and they will fade out). If the screen is still dark, it's not the overlay, and I'll continue looking elsewhere. Thanks!

[hakonbo]

@RebelCoderRU Feel free to ping me on Wire (@hb), maybe we can send you a build so we can debug this a bit if you are up for that?

[RebelCoderRU]

Hi. This problem still exists. in 9 out of 10 calls my video stream is dark. This example below is in very bright conditions. If it is a bit darker, then my image is just pitch black. I am on the latest App as I update everything frequently.

I have tried tapping - nothing changes. Again, I am on Samsung A9, partner is on a smaller version Samsung A7

[kaysond]

This is still an issue as of Dec 07 2017. I'm using a Galaxy Note 4

[AdamDenoon]

Still an issue on Galaxy Note 4

[sem-geologist]

also I want to report that this is an issue on bq m10 tablet.

[RebelCoderRU]

I gave up on wire and stopped proposing it to other people. Was going to use it for our huge team and friends and family. Bugs are not being fixed at all. Checked few days ago and 1 year old bugs are still there. And those are breaking bugs. Telegram and Jitsi Meet all the way

[juliokele]

Still an issue on OnePlus3