TECNO shares how smartphone cameras will improve in 2022

TECNO shares the latest technologies they have in store for their smartphone users. Sensor shift, stabilization, new RGBW sensors, personalized AI algorithms, and many more are in store for the TECNO community this coming holidays.

With the growth of the smartphone industry with better cameras competing with digital cameras, TECNO highlights during a webinar called Global Mobile Camera Trends their breakthroughs on key trends that are likely to be seen in the coming year.

During the webinar, TECNO stated that by Q1 2022 they will have products on the market that will allow their users to take studio-quality photos and videos without the need for professional skills.

With these technologies,  included in the Dual OIS for users to attain clearer pictures as blurry and shaky photos are common especially in low-light conditions. With the help of Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) technology, the lens “follows” the shake of the user stabilizing the image or video by “shifting” the lens to counter the shake.

 “Compared to conventional Optical Imaging Stabilisation, TECNO’s sensor-shift technology can achieve a response frequency of 5,000 adjustments per second,” Hsu said at the webinar. By combining lens shifting seen in conventional OIS systems and the newer sensor shift technology, TECNO is setting its sights on stabilization up to five degrees.

The high rise of megapixels in smartphones during 2021 led the director of research from Counterpoint Research, Tarun Pathak, to claim that likely 200MP sensors would be coming out in 2022. Sensors with a higher pixel count tend to capture better detail from scenes.  This has led sensor manufacturers like Samsung to deploy algorithm-driven techniques called pixel binning to enable high-resolution sensors to perform better in low-light conditions.

 “Just like our human eye will dilate when we are in a darker environment to let in more light, similarly, in low light conditions, our algorithm will automatically put the sensor in high sensitivity mode,” Xuebao said. In this mode, the smaller individual pixels ‘combine’ and act like bigger pixels. This mode is turned off in brighter conditions.

As phones get sleeker, manufacturers see these aesthetics as a technological challenge. This challenge comes from trying to incorporate bulky telephoto lenses. Technologies like periscope lenses that allow 5x or 10x optical zoom that started appearing in smartphones during 2021 is the challenge. Now, the next step is for manufacturers to offer continuous optical zoom which will allow users to shift between different focal lengths without a hassle. This, of course, requires accurate movement of lenses within confined spaces without affecting image quality. Hsu claims that by 2022, advances such as long-stroke motor development and Active Optical Alignment would allow 3x to 10x zoom in 2023.

Since everyone is pretty much just at home, indoor lighting environments can be tricky and have less than ideal light conditions. With RGBW technology, low-light performance is enhanced at the sensor level. Colour Filter Array (CFA) captures color information through this mechanism and adding white pixels increases light sensitivity by 60% making the sensor able to absorb more light. Furthermore, manufacturers are developing Glass+Plastic lens technology wherein the lens construction improves the transmission of light.

Other improvements like AI, scene, light, and color enhancements, as well as Time of Flight, and Dynamic Vision sensors were also highlighted during the webinar. Adding these new technologies, smartphone software and hardware have significantly improved over the years.  This allows more accurate reproduction of darker skin tones – even in low-light environments – using the TECNO’s TAIVOS signal processing technology.

Knowing these trends and how they improve the daily use of smartphone cameras points us to advancements that will be catered across all budget tiers.

To watch the webinar, click here