The evolution of the mobile phone
interface is rather startling. From the button keyboard with the slim LCD
number display, the window began to get bigger. The once-monochrome LCD became
more finely-detailed, then dispensed in favor of color. When the smartphone
debuted, physical keyboards were replaced by touchscreens, LCD by LED, and
selfie cameras on top. But as the screen display expanded there seemed no place
else to put anything physical on the face side of a mobile phone. While selfie
cameras remained “indispensable” there appeared to be no means to have its
presence interfere with the ideal edge-to-edge display. Still, developers find
a way.
One Chinese smartphone manufacturer,
Oppo, may have found a possible logical progression towards keeping the selfie
cam while also getting it out of the way of a massive edge-to-edge screen.
According to The Verge, Oppo introduced
their new concept at Mobile World Congress – Shanghai, and it is both ingenious
and challenging. The idea is for an under-screen camera (USC) where the selfie
cam is now positioned under the top part of the screen display. This is made
possible by using a customized transparent material for the screen display to
allow light to reach the aperture.
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/k5qEQ3QNta— OPPO India (@oppomobileindia) June 26, 2019
Granted, while the custom
material for the screen covering up the selfie camera allows for light, there
is still compensation required in the enlarged sizes of the aperture and
sensor. The display area in front of the camera would still remain responsive
to touch control, and under normal circumstances it will cover up the cam setup
(except under certain lighting conditions). Oppo is also aware that eventual
wear and tear might reduce image quality due to the unusual cam setup, which
they hope to address by additional software algorithms, in order to keep it “on
par” with normally-placed camera smartphones.
Now here is the bad news: the
under-screen cam system that Oppo presented in MWC Shanghai was only a
prototype. They do have plans to launch such a device, but only in the near
future with now specific date given. Thus far, people only know of the USC tech
either from this demonstration in Shanghai, plus a handful of tech reporters
from Engadget Chinese that have
gotten close-up looks at the prototype phone in action.
Oppo has made strides in
smartphone design to find ways in balancing the presence of a selfie camera
with the public desire for large screen displays. Their earlier solutions have ranged
from minimalist and non-obtrusive display notches to having the selfie cam pop
up from the top edge of the phone whenever it is needed.
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