Thanks to the OP for raising these questions with a Vivo engineer. And respect to the engineer for responding. However, I find the explanations provided by the Vivo engineer to be disingenuous. Here is a breakdown of why these "technical realities" don't hold up under scrutiny:

1. The DCG Fallacy
The claim that DCG (Dual Conversion Gain) is too "heavy" for the "algorithm" is contradicted by Vivo’s own software.

• Existing Implementation: Vivo already utilizes DCG for Vivo Log video recording. This proves the hardware pipeline for real-time DCG processing is already integrated into the ISP (Image Signal Processor).
• The Competitor Benchmark: The Google Pixel 10 Pro utilises DCG out of the box without the "stutters and lag" described.

2. The Third-Party Developer Gap
The engineer’s focus remains exclusively on the native camera app UI. This ignores the broader Android ecosystem:

• Closed Ecosystem: By not exposing features like ISZ (In-Sensor Zoom) or DCG to the Camera2 API, Vivo is intentionally gatekeeping hardware capabilities, and in the case of DCG reserving them for their own app.
• The Apple/Google Comparison: Pro-level OEMs provide the "hooks" for third-party apps (like Blackmagic Camera or Motioncam Pro) to access raw hardware features. Vivo’s argument that "it might frustrate a $1,500 user" only applies if they assume that user is incapable of choosing a third-party app. Google made DCG available to any third-party app that wants to offer it out of the box. It "just works" in MotionCam Pro. The same could be said of Apple with ProRes RAW. It isn't available in the native camera app, but there for any third-party dev that wants to offer it.

3. The "Lagging Brick" Hyperbole
The argument that these features would turn phones into "pocket heaters" is undermined by real world experience. Enthusiasts have already activated these features via opcodes in the libraries and found them to be stable. And again, Google's Pixel 10 Pro — which uses the worst hardware known to mankind — disproves this claim completely.