Google Pixel Visual Core is being updated through the Play Store with better image processing
One of the features of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL that didn’t leak before the phones’ official unveiling was their custom imaging chip: The Pixel Visual Core. The custom-designed eight-core chip, which can crunch a whopping 3 trillion operations per second, accelerates the processing of Google’s HDR+ mode while prolonging battery life. (Google says it consumes 1/10th of the energy compared to the Pixel 2’s Snapdragon 835 cores.) It wasn’t enabled when the two phones shipped, but Google flipped the switch earlier this month. And today, the search giant pushed out a new app to the Play Store — the Pixel Visual Core Service — that updates them.
We know that Google worked with some third-party applications including Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, and others to speed up image processing, enable Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL), and power features like digital zoom enhanced with RAISR technologies with the Visual Pixel Core. It’s possible that the update has to do with squashing some bugs with one or more of these applications.
