Newsletter
Oppo has unveiled its upcoming under-screen camera (USC) technology for smartphones. The tech involves placing the front-facing camera under the display. Oppo said this will allow decent screen quality and camera performance consistently.
Oppo is seeking an alternative to under-display or UD camera sensors
Phones with UD technology tend to have some display issues around the front camera. Oppo’s press release (via Pocketnow) went on to add that the new USC technology will also improve the reliability and lifespan of such phones.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from Oppo’s announcement:
Innovative Pixel Geometry involves shrinking the size of each pixel without reducing the number of pixels. This is to ensure a 400 pixels-per-inch (PPI) display quality near the front camera.
Oppo is also using a new transparent wiring material in place of the conventional screen wiring. Complemented by the new manufacturing process, this new wiring cuts down the width of the wires by up to 50%. The company says this allows for improved display quality overall.
Each pixel circuit on Oppo’s new screen technology drives 1 pixel (1-to-1). Oppo says that this improves the visibility of smaller fonts while the quality of the overall texture and colors are upgraded as well.
A combination of hardware and software features will improve display compensation in the vicinity of the front camera. This, in turn, will improve the lifespan of the screen by up to 50%.
The company will use AI to improve camera quality on its phones
The company also said that its U.S. Research Institutes have come up with a handful of imaging AI algorithms including reduction, diffraction, AWB, and HDR. This is to counter some of the issues found with under-screen cameras including image glaring and blurriness.
Oppo’s AI diffraction reduction model is trained with thousands of photos to manage issues related to diffraction at the light source. This reportedly allows smartphone owners to capture “clearer, more natural-looking images.”
In addition to taking giant strides in terms of camera tech, the company is improving user experience in general. Popular phone maker OnePlus recently merged with Oppo, allowing faster rollout of updates. Shortly after, OnePlus said that it would “further integrate” with Oppo in the future. However, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau stressed that it would continue to operate independently.