Researchers can determine what smartphone a photo was taken on by analyzing it
Researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered a way to identify smartphones by analyzing just a single photo taken by the device. The researchers centered on a flaw in digital imaging called photo-response non-uniformity (PRNU) to do so.
PRNU happens when the imperfections in the manufacturing process of each camera’s sensors create tiny variations. Those variations can cause the millions of pixels in the camera’s sensor to project colors that are slightly brighter or darker than normal, which creates a systemic distortion in the photo called pattern noise. This is invisible to the naked eye, and is extracted by special filters — where each pattern is unique for each camera. This process to analyze images usually requires 50...