Oppo Unveils 'World's First' Under-Screen Front-Facing Camera

[MacRumors]

Chinese mobile maker Oppo today unveiled its solution to the ubiquitous smartphone display notch - the "word's first" Under-Screen Camera (USC).

The fullscreen display-enabling technology was demonstrated to the public at Shanghai's Mobile World Congress, following a teaser earlier this month.

According to Oppo, the selfie camera is embedded under a section of the display that's made of a highly transparent custom material with a special pixel structure, which enables light to pass through to the lens.

The selfie camera is also said to be larger than other front-facing cameras, featuring a wider aperture lens in front of the sensor.

The company has already admitted that putting a camera under the screen will make it harder to match the quality of an unobstructed smartphone camera.

To compensate, however, Oppo said it has developed software algorithms that address haze, glare, and color cast issues, resulting in pictures that are "on par with mainstream devices."

We won't know how accurate that claim is until the tech hits the market, and it's still not clear exactly when the under-screen camera will debut in a consumer product, but the company says it plans to launch a device featuring its USC "in the near future."

OPPO's brand new solution for full-screen display - Under-screen Camera (USC) has just been unveiled here at #MWC19 Shanghai! 🤯 #MoreThanTheSeen pic.twitter.com/c1FUEbXS0P - OPPO (@oppo) June 26, 2019

This isn't the first time Oppo has tried to innovate in the mobile camera space. The company in February introduced a 10x optical zoom camera system for smartphones, and just last month unveiled its latest flagship OnePlus 7 Pro phone, which features a bezel-free display and pop-up selfie camera.

Apple's 2019 iPhones are widely expected to include a triple rear camera system featuring wide, telephoto, and ultra-wide lenses. The display notch, which houses Apple's TrueDepth camera and Face ID tech, will almost certainly remain.

Article Link: Oppo Unveils 'World's First' Under-Screen Front-Facing Camera

 

[partydorm]

Sleepy Jony.

 

[nfl46]

Very nice. I can’t wait to the improvements of this over the next couple of years.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Very cool. Cmon Apple...

 

[fokmik]

Ok, and what smartphone will have this this year? not one...probably after 2 years

 

[decafjava]

Very cool. Cmon Apple...

Yes it is cool, but let's see how good the quality is before rolling out the "Apple is behind" cliché.

Still good on Oppo - they seem to make decent devices for a good price.

 

[justiny]

The tech is still not fully baked. Hopefully, it can be developed to where image quality is not compromised, but it’s a big step in the right direction.

 

[69Mustang]

Yes it is cool, but let's see how good the quality is before rolling out the "Apple is behind" cliché.

Still good on Oppo - they seem to make decent devices for a good price.

Quality of the camera? We don't care about the quality of the camera. We're used to the front facing camera being a potato. - Anyone with an iMac or Mac laptop

Seriously though, this is a good first step I think. As Oppo and others continue to develop the tech, the front facing image will get better. Heck Google's current camera voodoo could probably make it even better right now.

 

[Bin Cook]

'compensated by software'... yuck.

 

[Kabeyun]

Maybe in order for Apple to put it in an iPhone, the United States can force Oppo to divulge the IP first.

 

[snowboarder]

Pretty incredible to release new 2019 iPhones with the huge ugly notch when Oppo or OnePlus 7 Pro
are so much more advanced and 2x cheaper. I got my OnePlus 7 Pro a month ago and it's really really hard
to pick up my iPhone and not to feel sorry for those guys. It just looks and feels so old today.
How is it gonna feel in late 2020?

 

[kiranmk2]

Good on Oppo for:

1. Researching and developing the technology to do this
2. Announcing it as an achievement rather than a product which turns out to be a beta product

 

[syklee26]

Oppo is not a typical Chinese tech company; they actually do r&d and make premium quality products.

 

[clunkmess]

I’d rather have an uncompromising camera.

 

[maflynn]

'compensated by software'... yuck.

Not for nothing, but pictures taken from the iPhone are compensated by software as well

 

[mwb]

'compensated by software'... yuck.

I too demand the highest quality glass for my selfies

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

So much overengineering from so many manufacturers when the obvious solution is to just get rid of the front camera altogether.

Video calling is a convenient feature but who really uses it on a regular basis? And the sooner we kill the pouty selfie the better.

 

[Gorms]

Ever since rumours of under-screen started a few years ago I've been genuinely curious to see the quality of an image off one of these against that of a "normal" front facing camera. Because I've always seen this concept as an amazingly difficult technical challenge. If this is even near to the quality of a standard camera on v1, you know it will be great going forwards into the v2-v3 versions

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Pretty incredible to release new 2019 iPhones with the huge ugly notch when Oppo or OnePlus 7 Pro are so much more advanced and 2x cheaper.

This is one feature—and it has not been seen or tested by anyone outside of their company yet. The "ugly, huge notch" does more than take foggy selfies. It unlocks your phone, is used for facial payments and can map your face in 1-to-1 motion, to capture movement and can animate it, and will have addiotnal uses in the future via software updates. Calling it simply an ugly notch I feel is disingenuous, and misses the point. In fact, it is a clear of example of Apple, for a change, choosing function over form.

 

[Gorms]

So much overengineering from so many manufacturers when the obvious solution is to just get rid of the front camera altogether.

Video calling is a convenient feature but who really uses it on a regular basis? And the sooner we kill the pouty selfie the better.

This says way more about how you use your device than it does about how literally everyone else may or may not use their device. It's best not to assume that yours and your close friend's/family/work colleagues device usage is the same as everyone else.

 

[ColdShadow]

I always thought under display camera should be much easier to make compared to under display finger print sensor.so what took them so long?
still we have to wait and see how the camera lens quality is,is it actually on par with current cameras? because otherwise it's going to be pointless.
also don't forget with Apple things are going to be much more complicated cause they have Face ID sensors and not just camera lenses.

 

[recoil80]

I’d rather have an uncompromising camera.

This.
A few mm of bezel on top aren't a big deal, just put the camera and other sensor there. Maybe in the future Apple will get rid of the notch in favour of a smaller bezel side-to-side, I'd be happy with that

 

[myc]

the "word's first" <- is that a typo? world's vs word's

 

[StevieD100]

Pretty incredible to release new 2019 iPhones with the huge ugly notch when Oppo or OnePlus 7 Pro
are so much more advanced and 2x cheaper. I got my OnePlus 7 Pro a month ago and it's really really hard
to pick up my iPhone and not to feel sorry for those guys. It just looks and feels so old today.
How is it gonna feel in late 2020?

To many including myself, a phone is a tool. A device that enables you to do things. A friend of mine uses tools to make things from wood that cost a lot more than a fully configured Mac Pro. None of his best tools were made after 1939. To him, they don't feel old. They feel right.
As long as my phone works then I honestly don't care what it looks like.

 

[Glockworkorange]

This says way more about how you use your device than it does about how literally everyone else may or may not use their device. It's best not to assume that yours and your close friend's/family/work colleagues device usage is the same as everyone else.

I use the front facing camera for video calls all the time. The other options are the cameras from my Macs, which SUCK ****.