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).

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.