Innovative technology brand TECNO officially announced its groundbreaking multi-skin tone color card at MWC Barcelona 2024. The multi-skin tone color card sets a new benchmark for multi-skin tone imaging with industry’s largest and most accurate skin tone database.

It will further assist TECNO Universal Tone technology’s algorithm to adjust the accuracy of every skin tone in each capture, achieving greater mobile portrait inclusivity. Attendees at MWC Barcelona 2024 can experience this latest advancement of TECNO’s Universal Tone technology in person at the brand‘s stand, 6B11, Hall 6, Fira Gran Via.

For too long, mobile portrait technology has been biased due to a lack of objective evaluation indicators and inspection standards for measuring multiple skin tones. To address this issue, TECNO’s multi-skin tone color card utilized international standard skin color collection methods to collect 2,838 skin color spectral data points. Conducted rigorous analysis of skin color clustering, boundary colors and intermediate color division in CIELAB space, TECNO established 268 kinds of skin tone patches based on this large skin spectral database. The result of this innovation is the industry’s largest and most intricate skin tone database yet.

TECNO’s multi-skin tone color card will be used to assess the color accuracy of the different skin tone images that are captured and displayed, as well as fine-tune the algorithms of Universal Tone’s multi-skin tone imaging technology, including skin color restoration algorithm and skin color improvement algorithm. This advancement allows TECNO to further improve the accuracy of every skin tone, providing an industry-leading validation standard for multi-skin tone imaging technology.

Dr. Kaida Xiao, Associate Professor in Colour and Imaging Science at University of Leeds, who advised TECNO during Universal Tone’s development, notes how this development can be utilized to better enhance the images it captures, “For years, imaging technology has not encapsulated skin tone diversity. While AI promises much to overcome this, it is often trained with historically biased data. TECNO’s multi-skin tone color card solves this issue scientifically by collecting mass amounts of unbiased data, and by integrating it with more advanced AI into TECNO’s camera system, TECNO has been able to truly capture the beauty of diverse skin tones.”

TECNO has partnered with many top global academics and influential institutions to explore the significance of inclusive portraiture. Last year, the company collaborated with BBC StoryWorks on the “Portrait for Everyone” short film, engaging professors in Colour and Imaging Science, Media Technology, and Psychological and Behavioral Science to discuss the societal impact of TECNO’s Universal Tone technology, the industry’s most advanced AI-powered multi-skin tone imaging technology yet. Moreover, through in-depth academic research, scientific analysis, and consultation with authoritative experts in the field, TECNO was able to determine how best to remove the technological and psychological barriers that negatively impact people’s engagement with portraiture, allowing for a truly unbiased and professional photography experience through Universal Tone technology — an approach that the multi-skin color card continues.

As a pioneer in developing a more inclusive smartphone industry, TECNO is committed to pursuing new technologies that ensure the beauty of human diversity is accurately captured. The newly released multi-skin tone color card represents a further step forward in Universal Tone’s mission to ensure greater inclusivity in mobile imaging to embrace the uniqueness of every culture and to celebrate every form of beauty.