Video stabilization
Also known as: stabilize video, OIS, EIS, shake reduction
Video stabilization smooths out camera shake to make footage look steady. Optical stabilization (OIS) physically counters motion in the lens or sensor, while electronic stabilization (EIS) corrects it in software by cropping and shifting each frame.
- OIS corrects shake in hardware; EIS in software
- EIS crops the frame to leave room to steady it
- Many phones combine optical and electronic
Optical vs electronic stabilization
Optical (OIS) uses hardware — a movable lens element or shifting sensor — to physically cancel small hand movements as the frame is captured. It works before the image is recorded, so it does not sacrifice resolution.
Electronic (EIS) stabilizes after capture in software. It analyzes motion between frames and shifts each one to keep the subject steady, which means cropping into the frame slightly to leave room to move — trading a little field of view and detail for smoothness. Many phones combine both.
Effect on quality and file size
Stronger software stabilization crops more aggressively, so heavily stabilized clips can look slightly tighter and softer than the raw footage. Modes like action or cinematic stabilization push this further for very smooth motion.
Stabilization does not by itself bloat file size — the bitrate, resolution, and frame rate do. But stabilized high-frame-rate or 4K footage is still large, and is a common candidate for compression to reclaim space.