Chinese smartphone maker Oppo has taken the wraps off its latest under-display camera technology for mobile phones. It showcased a prototype featuring a camera concealed under a specially tuned AMOLED display. It even shared a selfie camera sample taken from this prototype.
As per the subsidiary of BBK electronics, this tech is a culmination of years of development in the hardware and software departments. Oppo claims that thanks to its new "transparent screen wiring material" combined with precision manufacturing, users can barely notice any quality difference in the area that sits above the camera.
Oppo seems to have addressed the image quality issues that come with the under-display camera arrangement. Its US-based Research Institutes has come up with AI algorithms to minimize artifacts such as glare and blurriness in photographs. On top of that, the manufacturer claims it has managed to shrink the pixel size to ensure consistent density across the display including the camera area.
For years, delivering a full-screen display has been a tricky task for most smartphone brands. Given the importance of a front-facing camera, manufacturers tend to settle for a distracting notch or punch-hole to accommodate a camera. The pop-up camera mechanism enables manufacturers to deliver a full-screen experience but it isn"t an ideal solution due to its reliability issues in the long run. With today"s demonstration from Oppo, it seems an elegant solution isn"t too far away.
The company is planning on further optimizing its under-display camera tech. Currently, there"s no word on when this technology will break cover on Oppo"s smartphones. At this point, ZTE Axon 30 is the only commercially available smartphone with under-display camera technology.