The Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO recently announced through its official Twitter account that it will hold an event in MWC 2019, wherein it will likely demonstrate the latest camera technologies that the device maker developed. The event is scheduled to take place on February 23rd in Barcelona, Spain, and the tweet contains the phrase GetCloser, which suggests that the company will demonstrate its latest 10x lossless optical zoom technology at the event.
Background: OPPO is actively involved in the development of camera technologies for its smartphones. Back in MWC 2017, OPPO demonstrated its 5x optical zoom technology, although the company did not use a commercial device in showcasing the technology. This technique uses a 5P lens and a 90-degree angular prism that directs the light to a vertically-oriented camera sensor. Several years after OPPO first demonstrated the technology, it seems that the device maker failed to incorporate 5x optical zoom into any of its commercial products.
Around two years after it first displayed the 5x optical zoom technology, OPPO recently exhibited in China an improved version of the technology which offers 10x optical zoom. OPPO later confirmed that it indeed developed a 10x lossless optical zoom technology, which also utilizes a periscope style-system. The device maker noted that when people use a camera equipped with its optical zoom technology, the device may first show an ultrawide aspect before it switches to a medium telephoto perspective when zooming. Even in the presence of this camera technology, the imaging module still features optical image stabilization (OIS), which reduces the amount of motion blur captured by the device. Interestingly, unlike with its 5x optical zoom technology, OPPO claims that its latest design is ready for mass production, although whether the upcoming event will showcase the technology in the form of a commercial product remains to be seen. However, it is possible that the OPPO R19 and the R19 Pro, which the smartphone manufacturer will likely launch within the next few months, may also feature the 10x optical zoom technology.
Aside from camera optics, OPPO is also actively involved in the development of other technologies that add value to its device offerings. One of the features that the company recently unveiled include the Hyper Boost technology, which improves the power consumption and performance of Android smartphones by optimizing the handsets’ resource allocation. OPPO claims that the optimizations involved in the Hyper Boost technology reduce the app launch times by as much as 31.91-percent. The technology also reduces the network latency experienced by gamers on their smartphones by including optimizations specific to popular mobile games including Honor of Kings and PUBG. Furthermore, OPPO is also involved in 5G technology development, with the tech firm establishing research institutes for 5G product development in China, Japan, and the United States.
Impact: In an incredibly competitive environment, smartphone manufacturers incorporate new features with the hope that it will make their devices stand out from the competition. Many consumers already use their smartphones as their primary camera, and improved quality of images captured by the handsets could be an important selling point for OPPO’s devices.