[One (M9) General] hamdir:
Sorry for the delay guys here it is:

HTC One M9 camera - HW Luma Denoise Mod - Base 2.10.401.1 (root required, flashable zip)

to summarize, we now have three methods for the M9 camera denoise (stock camera app)

- HTC's default HW denoise QCWNR via s810 camera ISPs: it's one of the worst problems in the M9's camera auto mode JPG images, extreme smudging and color bleed at 1:1 even in daylight just terrible

- HW Luma Denoise Mod (color only), flashable zip file attached in this post: this puts luma denoise to a minimum while keeping color denoise, result is a dramatically more detailed images at the cost of visible black noise in low light areas, thanks to [MENTION=377973]defcomg[/MENTION] hex editing skills, this mod will only apply to Auto mode, HDR mode and low light mode

- SW denoise via build.prop tweak (persist.camera.qcwnr.enabled=0): this will disable all HW denoise from the s810 processor and rely on Android's stock, result is much more detailed images at the cost of visible black and color noise in low light areas, it's also slower and still suffers from some old school smudging but for some it can be a good middle ground

reminder: you will need to renable HW denoise for the HW mod to work, so make sure to remove persist.camera.qcwnr.enabled=0 in build.prop or enable it via persist.camera.qcwnr.enabled=1

you can use camera.eis.enable=0 if you like to disable HTC's odd but usable image stabilize code however DO NOT add the line persist.camera.snap.format=1 nor persist.camera.snap.format=0

In the above scenario i relied on an indoor light shot with some distance as the best all around example of what's happening in HTC camera app

as you can see HTC / Qualcomm stock denoise is a complete and utter destruction to pixels and overall image quality, so bad that the entire texture of the wooden wall unit disappears, HTC has a very good sharpness code starting with base 1.40, however it's harsh on default and all this processing on top of each other is creating a mess, we will need to slightly reduce the sharpness as well as capping the ISO in order to limit the side of effects of noise introduced by our mod, we can also benefit from HTC's built-in resolution scaling feature in order to clean the image further, the M9 has an abundance of pixels so using the Medium resolution will scale down to 15MP and Small to 10MP; if you are using the 10:7 aspect ratio; even at 10MP that's still in the range of most smartphones today

while the M9 camera sensor does suffer from tiny 1.1um pixel and hence noise in low light, it's still a very able sensor, unlike most tiny pixel sensors it's able to capture very good brightness in low light and operate around ISO400, in daylight it operates at ISO50, RAW mode proves it

Conclusion and recommendation: the best all around solution is to use the HW mod and reduce resolution to Medium with Sharpness -1 or Small with Sharpness -1, for the cleanest possible image from this mod, use the Small resolution and disable Sharpness by setting it to -2, always keep your ISO capped at 400 + use auto focus, keep in mind that you can still get the full 20MP image by using RAW mode which has a separated resolution setting

As you can see below only the images with the HW denoise mod has the wooden texture intact in the wall unit, overall it's a much more detailed "ordinary" photo with some noise

Stock with recommended settings (Medium, Sharpness -1)

HW denoise Mod with recommended settings (Medium, Sharpness -1)

Stock with cleanest settings (Small, Sharpness -2)

HW denoise Mod with cleanest settings (Small, Sharpness -2)

Recommendations recap:

- HW denoise mod

- Resolution Medium, Aspect 10:7

- Sharpness -1 (Minus One)

- MaxISO400

General M9 camera tips:

- Always use auto focus instead of manually touching your focus for smart metering to engage

- Use HDR for backlit or dark scenarios it's highly effective, stabilize your hold

- For larger more detailed results use RAW mode and edit the DNG using Photoshop Express, keep raw mode resolution setting at Large

Full Resolution Comparison:

Low Light Tests

HW denoise mod, medium, sharpness - 1, MaxISO400