The design of smartphones is becoming more compact and convenient for users, while engineers are striving to maximize the useful area of the screens. At the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2019, which was running from June 26 to June 28 in Asia, OPPO introduced the prototype of a smartphone with a front camera “hidden” under the surface of the display.
The company is preparing for a serial release of the new smartphone, but the appearance of the gadget has not been demonstrated openly. The smartphone was presented to journalists in a special case, hiding the design of the device. In addition, the device was not allowed to take in hands. As expected, the screen occupies almost the entire front surface of the smartphone, leaving only the minimum strips on the sides.
Examining the area below the conversational speaker, you can see the front camera hiding under the screen. When turning on applications that work with the camera, a large black strip is formed at the top of the display, which is necessary to prevent the “blinding” of the sensor by illuminating the image on the screen. In this case, the display area over the camera responds to the touch, like the rest of the touch screen.
For normal functioning of the front camera, hidden under the thick screen, a special material with a high degree of light transmission was used. The sensor itself has a special module that allows to increase the light flow. This is achieved by increasing the aperture, sensor, and pixel size. The developers admitted that the location of the camera under the glass reduces the quality of the photos. To improve the image, HDR optimization technology, smoke effect removal, and improved white balance are used.
The serial production of the smartphone with a sub-screen camera will begin in 2020.
