Get a white background

[marcaurel]

I want to take product photos with my smartphone. I have an Infinix X623 device whose specifications you can find on the Internet (camera: 13MP, f/2).

I have installed a long piece of white Canson paper in the background.
I used white LED lighting.

My problem is that I can't get a white background. It's dark gray.
I don't understand why the background doesn't stay white as it is!

Aren't there any adjustments or settings I've missed?

 

[JamesD]

My first thought is that the camera is reading a scene that's supposed to be mostly bright (the white background) and adjusting exposure to make it "normal." Unless there's a control or another camera app for your phone that lets you adjust exposure, it might be difficult to convince it to do otherwise.

 

[smoke665]

I want to take product photos with my smartphone. I have an Infinix X623 device whose specifications you can find on the Internet (camera: 13MP, f/2).

I have installed a long piece of white Canson paper in the background.
I used white LED lighting.

My problem is that I can't get a white background. It's dark gray.
I don't understand why the background doesn't stay white as it is!

Aren't there any adjustments or settings I've missed?

1. LED lights are underpowered, and doubtful that they are the correct WB.
2. All cameras record "reflected light". If the camera is focused on the subject then it's exposing for the subject which automatically underexposed the white background unless you have an equal amount of reflected light on the background. A difference of negative 4 1/3 stops reflective from the subject reading will turn your white background black while a positive 2 1/3 stops from the subject reading will turn black to white. Photographers use the difference frequently to produce varying grayscale backgrounds and custom hues (with gelled lights).
3. Pure white in RGB is 255.255.255 while pure black is 0.0.0 any light that exceeds pure white results in blown highlights while anything below pure black results in filled in shadows.
4. You can either light the background separately and meter the "reflected light on the subject and background until they are equal, or edit the shots post to correct the WB and mask the background to raise the exposure.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

As mentioned, chances are that if you took a photo of only your white background with a digital camera set on auto, the camera light meter would set that image at or near middle gray.

The camera light meter processes all the light it captures to more or less determine the average exposer of the scene. Since you have only provided the camera with white, the camera set that at the mid point average.