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

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

oppo under screen camera e1561543770918
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."



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.

Tag: Oppo

Top Rated Comments

maflynn Avatar
52 months ago
'compensated by software'... yuck.
Not for nothing, but pictures taken from the iPhone are compensated by software as well
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
52 months ago
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.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
decafjava Avatar
52 months ago
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.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magicschoolbus Avatar
52 months ago
Very cool. Cmon Apple...
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
snowboarder Avatar
52 months ago
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?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
partydorm Avatar
52 months ago
Sleepy Jony.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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