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Under-Panel-Camera Technology – Soon to be Released by China, Inc
OPPO unveiled its next-generation under-screen camera (USC) technology, putting selfie cameras placed under the display. The third generation under-screen camera solution discreetly places the front-facing camera under the smartphone display without compromising the integrity and consistency of the entire screen, both during use and while on standby. The new under-screen camera tech doesn’t affect the display's pixel density, maintaining the overall sharpness of the panel, display reliability, and lifespan. Vivo showcased a concept phone in 2020 featuring a curved screen and an under-screen selfie camera. Xiaomi and Realme are also testing prototypes with sophisticated under-display camera modules. ZTE is expected to release the Axon 30 5G, its second-generation under-screen camera phone with a 120Hz refresh rate OLED panel with a light-sensitive 4-in-1 2.24um equivalent large pixel front-facing camera.
Under-screen camera tech combines hardware innovations and proprietary algorithms to achieve a balance between screen and camera quality. The technical and manufacturing-related challenges include inconsistent display quality in the specific screen area above the under-screen camera, poor image quality caused by obstruction of the camera by the screen, and display reliability issues affecting the overall lifespan of the handset. Some important upgrades include Better Pixel Geometry: The new solution shrinks the size of each pixel without decreasing the number of pixels to ensure a 400-PPI high-quality display even in the camera area. Transparent Wiring And New Design: Oppo's new prototype replaces the traditional screen wiring with a transparent wiring material. The width of the wiring has also been reduced by 50% to achieve a smoother visual experience. Better Control of Screen Accuracy, Color, And Brightness: The new under-screen camera solution upgrades the pixel-circuit standards to better control the chromaticity and brightness of the entire screen. In OPPO's prototype each pixel circuit driving only 1 pixel ("1-to-1") resulting in light deviation of 2%, thus improving the visual experience while using the phone's display for day-to-day tasks. Improved reliability and lifespan: The "1-to-1" pixel circuit and new optimization algorithm should improve the screen's lifespan by up to 50%. OPPO also expects better front-facing camera performance with its third-generation under-screen camera solution. The team has designed new imaging AI algorithms (diffraction reduction, HDR and AWB) to reduce inconsistencies in under-screen cameras, such as blurry images and image glare. ZTE Axon 30 5G- Production Ready Under-Screen Camera Phone.
The Axon 30 5G features a newly developed camera-display arrangement, which is engineered by using six core technologies: a special pixel matrix, unique driver circuits, independent display chip, front camera, in-house selfie algorithm, and larger light-sensitive 4-in-1 2.24um equivalent large pixel camera. Developed by using seven layers of highly transparent materials and three special processing technologies, the ingenious circuit arrangement is said to offer better synchronization between the selfie shooter and the precise display area housing the sensor, thus promising a more natural transition between them.
Xiaomi is expected to unveil a full-fledged under-screen camera phone in a new device- Mi Mix 4, which uses a “super flexible screen” and an under-display camera. The Chinese tech giants are in the final stages of optimizing their respective under-screen camera technologies to design smartphones with a more immersive, full-screen visual experience. The under-screen camera phones will most likely hit the mass market in 2022. Similar to under-display in-screen fingerprint handsets, the under-display camera phones will be priced higher in the initial stages and will start selling at affordable prices with time and advancement in manufacturing technologies. Some smartphones expected to come with under-screen camera technology for a bezel-less viewing experience, include Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 ZTE Axon 30 5G (Available in China) vivo Apex 2020 Realme Under-Screen Camera Phone.
OPPO unveiled its next-generation under-screen camera (USC) technology, putting selfie cameras placed under the display. The third generation under-screen camera solution discreetly places the front-facing camera under the smartphone display without compromising the integrity and consistency of the entire screen, both during use and while on standby. The new under-screen camera tech doesn’t affect the display's pixel density, maintaining the overall sharpness of the panel, display reliability, and lifespan. Vivo showcased a concept phone in 2020 featuring a curved screen and an under-screen selfie camera. Xiaomi and Realme are also testing prototypes with sophisticated under-display camera modules. ZTE is expected to release the Axon 30 5G, its second-generation under-screen camera phone with a 120Hz refresh rate OLED panel with a light-sensitive 4-in-1 2.24um equivalent large pixel front-facing camera.
Under-screen camera tech combines hardware innovations and proprietary algorithms to achieve a balance between screen and camera quality. The technical and manufacturing-related challenges include inconsistent display quality in the specific screen area above the under-screen camera, poor image quality caused by obstruction of the camera by the screen, and display reliability issues affecting the overall lifespan of the handset. Some important upgrades include Better Pixel Geometry: The new solution shrinks the size of each pixel without decreasing the number of pixels to ensure a 400-PPI high-quality display even in the camera area. Transparent Wiring And New Design: Oppo's new prototype replaces the traditional screen wiring with a transparent wiring material. The width of the wiring has also been reduced by 50% to achieve a smoother visual experience. Better Control of Screen Accuracy, Color, And Brightness: The new under-screen camera solution upgrades the pixel-circuit standards to better control the chromaticity and brightness of the entire screen. In OPPO's prototype each pixel circuit driving only 1 pixel ("1-to-1") resulting in light deviation of 2%, thus improving the visual experience while using the phone's display for day-to-day tasks. Improved reliability and lifespan: The "1-to-1" pixel circuit and new optimization algorithm should improve the screen's lifespan by up to 50%. OPPO also expects better front-facing camera performance with its third-generation under-screen camera solution. The team has designed new imaging AI algorithms (diffraction reduction, HDR and AWB) to reduce inconsistencies in under-screen cameras, such as blurry images and image glare. ZTE Axon 30 5G- Production Ready Under-Screen Camera Phone.
The Axon 30 5G features a newly developed camera-display arrangement, which is engineered by using six core technologies: a special pixel matrix, unique driver circuits, independent display chip, front camera, in-house selfie algorithm, and larger light-sensitive 4-in-1 2.24um equivalent large pixel camera. Developed by using seven layers of highly transparent materials and three special processing technologies, the ingenious circuit arrangement is said to offer better synchronization between the selfie shooter and the precise display area housing the sensor, thus promising a more natural transition between them.
Xiaomi is expected to unveil a full-fledged under-screen camera phone in a new device- Mi Mix 4, which uses a “super flexible screen” and an under-display camera. The Chinese tech giants are in the final stages of optimizing their respective under-screen camera technologies to design smartphones with a more immersive, full-screen visual experience. The under-screen camera phones will most likely hit the mass market in 2022. Similar to under-display in-screen fingerprint handsets, the under-display camera phones will be priced higher in the initial stages and will start selling at affordable prices with time and advancement in manufacturing technologies. Some smartphones expected to come with under-screen camera technology for a bezel-less viewing experience, include Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 ZTE Axon 30 5G (Available in China) vivo Apex 2020 Realme Under-Screen Camera Phone.
The new USC solution features one-pixel circuit to drive each pixel, which gives precise control over the screen’s chromaticity and brightness with a deviation of just 2%. This ensures that users cannot see any brightness or color difference between the part of the screen in front of the camera and the rest of it. The 1-to-1 pixel architecture, along with an anti-burn-in algorithm, also increases the screen’s lifespan by 50% compared to the previous solution.
On top of the enhancements to the screen in front of the camera, OPPO’s next-gen USC also uses proprietary AI algorithms to improve the quality of images captured by the camera. The AI diffraction reduction, AWB, and HDR algorithms ensure that the images captured by the under-display camera are better than those captured by the previous solution. OPPO hasn’t shared any plans of bringing its next-gen under-display camera to a production smartphone. But since the new solution successfully solves some of the key issues faced in the previous iterations, the company might include it on a production smartphone soon. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as that happens.
Although the front camera system with pop-up, rotating or sliding mechanics had emerged as a compromise solution to remove the cut-out, it is the under-display camera technology that represents the development direction of future full-screen display. A solid foundation is being laid for the increasing adoption UPC technology by smartphone OEMs Xiaomi, Samsung, ZTE, vivo and OPPO.”
However, large-scale commercialization of under-display cameras still faces challenges, which make its mass-market penetration difficult before 2023:
However, large-scale commercialization of under-display cameras still faces challenges, which make its mass-market penetration difficult before 2023:
- Increase in display panel cost due to new materials and additional process steps.
- Lower yield rate during the ramping-up period and supply capacity constraints before 2023.
- Deterioration of image and display quality, particularly the loss of image clarity.
- Differences between under-display camera solutions demand OEMs collaborate with an exclusive display vendor.
- Growing investments from all industry stakeholders, from panel makers to image sensor and chipset vendors, hold the key. Counterpoint’s Smartphone Camera research puts the shipments of smartphones featuring under-display cameras growing from 10m in 2022 to 100m in 2025.
