In today’s age when smartphone photography has become a very important part of our lives, the pursuit of representing diverse skin tones has become a very important challenge.
This is exactly what TECNO is aiming to solve with its Universal Tone technology – a solution that addresses long-standing issues of skin tone bias in digital photography.
Through an in-depth conversation with TECNO’s Ms. Fangyi Zhou, Director of Image Quality Testing and Assessment at Image Quality Testing Laboratory, we try and figure out how this innovation is reshaping the landscape of mobile photography while promoting inclusivity and diversity.
Fangyi Zhou
Director of Image Quality Testing and Assessment at TECNO Image Quality Testing Laboratory
The Need for Universal Tone: Understanding Market Needs
The development of Universal Tone technology stems from TECNO’s deep-rooted understanding of emerging markets and their unique challenges. Rather than following industry trends, the company took a ground-up approach based on extensive market research and user feedback.
“Through extensive market research, we consistently observed that users in diverse regions face significant challenges with skin tone inaccuracies in smartphone photography,” explains Ms. Fangyi. “For instance, in Africa, portraits can often appear reddish or overly darkened in certain conditions, while in South and Southeast Asia, varied lighting conditions can result in significant color misrepresentation.”
This observation highlighted a fundamental issue in the smartphone industry: the inherent bias in existing imaging algorithms used by smartphones across the globe. “Algorithms in this space are often developed using benchmarks tailored to more mainstream markets and consumers, leading to the underrepresentation of users from emerging markets,” she added.
This realization further pushed the need for developing Universal Tone technology, building on TECNO’s years of expertise in imaging technology and commitment to authentic skin tone representation.
Technical Innovation: The Power of AI and Inclusive Data
What sets Universal Tone apart is its comprehensive approach to solving multi-skin tone imaging challenges. The technology represents a complete reimagining of imaging systems, focusing on diversity and inclusivity at its core.
“TECNO Universal Tone is not just an imaging technology, but a system that solves the problems seen in multi-skin tone imaging,” Ms. Fangyi emphasizes. “The comprehensive technology considers the full diversity of human skin tones to ensure inclusivity from inception.”
The system’s foundation lies in what TECNO claims is the industry’s largest and most inclusive skin tone database, featuring ever-expanding 268 skin tone patches. This extensive database powers an advanced AI-driven algorithm that ensures accurate skin tone restoration and calibration.
TECNO’s executive outlines three key differentiators of the technology:
TECNO places a high priority on underrepresented skin tones that are often overlooked in mobile imaging, especially darker and less common skin tones, ensuring that their technology truly serves a diverse range of users. The Universal Tone is a comprehensive technology for multi-skin portrait photography, offering a full system for skin color management, including evaluation, detection, classification, grading, calibration, and enhancement algorithms. Further, as Fangyi emphasized, what sets Universal Tone apart is its advanced skin tone restoration capabilities, achieved through a powerful combination of extensive and localized research and development, a scientific approach, and an inclusive skin tone database, surpassing previous AI-based skin tone technologies.
Regional Adaptation and Real-World Implementation
Understanding that different regions present unique challenges, TECNO has invested heavily in localization efforts.
When we asked for more details on localization of this technology, Ms. Fangyi revealed their comprehensive approach to regional optimization:
“In our markets—such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East—AI must be trained to account for how various factors in the shooting environment, like lighting conditions, can influence elements such as brightness, color temperature, and overall tone.”
“TECNO customizes the technology through extensive region-specific testing, taking into account factors such as lighting, color temperature, and spectral conditions. Dedicated local teams conduct tests across 200+ environmental scenarios per country, ensuring the technology delivers precise skin tone reproduction under diverse conditions.”
Social Impact and the #ToneProud Campaign
The company has launched the #ToneProud campaign to raise awareness about skin tone misrepresentation in photography.
“TECNO is launching the #ToneProud campaign to draw attention to this issue and to call for people to stand together to reject imaging that fails to accurately capture the true beauty of diversity,” the executive added. The campaign features celebrities from diverse backgrounds and encourages users to discover their own skin tone code through an interactive platform.
The impact of this technology extends beyond mere photography. As Ms. Fangyi reflects: “When we hear feedback from consumers in SSA, Southeast Asia, and other regions saying they can finally capture photos that truly reflect their skin tones, it’s incredibly rewarding. This isn’t just a technological milestone; it’s a profound gesture of respect and recognition for these communities.”
Looking Ahead: The Future of Inclusive Photography
The Universal Tone technology, currently available on TECNO’s latest devices including the PHANTOM V Fold2 5G, PHANTOM V Flip2 5G, and CAMON 30 Series, represents just the beginning of a larger mission. The company continues to expand its skin tone database and refine its algorithms.
“We believe that skin tones are diverse, and their representation should reflect the vast range of color perceptions seen by the human eye,” the executive shares. “Moving forward, we will continue to enhance our skin tone database to deliver increasingly accurate results.”
TECNO’s vision extends beyond their own products to influencing industry-wide change.
“This goes beyond simply providing a better or more expensive product; I think we are shaping a more equitable digital world. We hope that other brands will also recognize the importance of this issue and refine their technologies to better celebrate and represent human diversity.”
As smartphone photography continues to evolve, TECNO’s Universal Tone technology proves how technological innovation can address social inequities while delivering superior user experiences. By placing diversity and inclusion at the heart of their development process, TECNO is not just improving photography – they’re helping to create a more representative and equitable digital world.
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