Reduce latency with Zero-Shutter Lag

Starting in CameraX 1.2, Zero-Shutter Lag is available as a capture mode. Enable Zero-Shutter Lag to significantly reduce latency compared to the default capture mode, so you never miss the shot.

Enable Zero-Shutter Lag

To enable Zero-Shutter Lag, pass CAPTURE_MODE_ZERO_SHOT_LAG to ImageCapture.Builder.setCaptureMode(). If unsuccessful, setCaptureMode() falls back to CAPTURE_MODE_MINIMIZE_LATENCY.

For more on capture modes, see the Image capture guide.

How it works

Zero-Shutter Lag uses a ring buffer that stores the three most recent capture frames. When a user presses the capture button, CameraX invokes takePicture(), and the ring buffer retrieves the captured frame with the timestamp that is closest to that of the button press. CameraX then reprocesses the capture session to generate an image from that frame, which saves to disk in JPEG format.

Prerequisites

Before you enable Zero-Shutter Lag, use isZslSupported() to determine if your device meets the following requirements:

• Targets Android 6.0+ (API level 23 and higher).
• Supports PRIVATE reprocessing.

For devices that don't meet the minimum requirements, CameraX falls back to CAPTURE_MODE_MINIMIZE_LATENCY.

Zero-Shutter Lag is only available for Image capture. You cannot enable it for Video capture or with Camera extensions.

Finally, because using flash results in greater latency, Zero-Shutter Lag does not work when flash is ON or in AUTO mode. For more information about setting the flash mode, see setFlashMode().