Back in June Chinese smartphone maker OPPO announced a device with an under-display front camera at MWC Shanghai. This allows for the design of display without a 'notch' or front camera 'pinhole' but also means that incoming light has to first travel through the display before it hits the camera lens.
To make this possible the display section above the camera is made of a highly-transparent material and comes with a redesigned pixel structure that is optimized for the transmittance of light. In addition, the camera comes with a bigger than usual sensor to further make up for any loss of light and white balance and HDR algorithms have been customized to reduce the transparent display's impact.
This week, Oppo now finally shared prototypes of devices with the new in-display camera with press and media and thanks to a Twitter post by David Imel from Android Authority we can see the new design fully in action.
The new under-display camera system is hardly visible on the front of the device and only becomes slightly visible when viewing the phone at certain angles. Of course, it's way too early to make any judgments on image quality but in terms of usability, the new system appears to work just like any other smartphone front camera.
Here is it in action. Thanks to @sisasaid for modeling the feature! pic. twitter. com/Wv2tU9yqlf
— David ImeI (@DurvidImel) December 10, 2019
Just like their rear counterparts, front cameras have taken huge steps forward in terms of image quality over the last couple of years or so. However, manufacturers have not only been focused on image output but also the integration into the device. We've seen notches and pinholes as well as motorized pop-up and flip-up front cameras. If Oppo's concept catches on 2020 might well be the year of the under-display front camera.
. dpreview.com2019-12-13 20:46
