

We've received a couple of tips about a problem with the camera on both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL (which makes sense as they have identical cameras). When taking either a photo or video, flickering darker or lighter bands can be seen moving across the image. To better explain it, take a look at this video:

It's the kind of effect you sometimes see when you try to take a photo or video of a TV screen or monitor, and some posters on this Pixel User Community forum post have suggested that LED lights are the likely culprit. Apparently, LED lights flicker at the frequency of alternating current (utility frequency), which is 50Hz or 60Hz depending on where you are in the world. This flickering is invisible to the naked eye but can be picked up by certain cameras, causing them to display strange bands. The same YouTuber made a comparison with an OG Pixel:

It's clear the 1st generation Pixel isn't susceptible to the same problem. The user who started the forum post shared these images and video to demonstrate the bug. A couple of Googlers have responded so far, simply saying they will escalate the issue to the relevant colleagues, but there's been no word about a fix so far. It's unclear whether every Pixel 2 suffers from this, so if you have either model, try to recreate the banding and let us know what you find. Since other phones don't seem to be affected by this, I'm hopeful it's a software bug that can easily be rectified with an OTA. We'll have to wait and see.