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Posts Tagged ‘Qualcomm’

Qualcomm unveils new Snapdragon 888 SoC with 3 ISPs capable of 8K video, 120fps still shooting, 960fps slo-mo and more

02 Dec

Today, Qualcomm revealed details of the Snapdragon 888, its next-generation flagship mobile chipset, showing what kind of features, functionality and performance we can expect to see in flagship Android mobile devices in the coming year.

The Snapdragon 888 is a System on a Chip (SoC) that consists of multiple processors atop a single substrate. These include multiple CPU and GPU cores, as well as additional mobile and AI components for powering all of the features we’ve come to expect from flagship mobile devices.

At the heart of the Snapdragon 888 is Qualcomm’s Kryo 680 CPU, which is the first to use ARM’s new Cortex-X1 architecture for its 2.84GHz core, alongside three Cortex A78 performance cores (2.4GHz) and four A55 efficiency cores (1.8GHz). Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon 888 performs 25% better while using 25% less power, compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 865.

For the GPU, Qualcomm is using its new Adreno 660 GPU, which it says offers 35% faster graphics rendering performance while using 20% less power. This new chip is said to be the best increase in year-over-year performance and should pave the way for better display technology, including better support for 120Hz screens and improved OLED display uniformity.

On the photography front, Qualcommm has made drastic improvements to the image signal processors (ISPs) seen onboard previous Snapdragon chips. The Snapdragon 888 will feature three separate Spectra 580 ISPs. Now, with these three individual ISPs, Android smartphones that offer three cameras — most often a standard, ultra-wide and telephoto — will be able to capture full-resolution photos and video (up to 28MP per camera for stills and 4K HDR video per camera for video), with a maximum bandwidth of 2.7 Gigapixels per second.

Beyond using up to three cameras at the same time, this triple-ISP array also allows for a number of firsts in Android smartphones. If not limited by onboard storage and caching, the Snapdragon 888 technically enables 12MP photo capture at up to 120 fps, as well as a maximum single-image capture of up to 200MP.

The chip can also be able to capture 10-bit HEIF stills, capture 4K HDR10 video (while simultaneously capturing 64MP stills), support 8K video capture and feature no-limit slow-mo video capture at up to 960 fps. 4K video will also be able to be captured and played back at 120 fps on the same device.

Moving onto connectivity, the Snapdragon 888 will feature Wi-Fi 6 speeds up to 3.6Gbps, Bluetooth 5.2 (dual antennas), and Qualcomm’s new X60 5G MOdem-RF system. This new 5G modem supports both sub-6Ghz 5G with carrier aggregation as well as mmWave 5G with speeds up to 7.5Gbps. Battery performance while using its 5G capabilities should also be improved thanks to its new integrated design.

Other features include a new Hexagon 780 processor for AI and computational performance, as well an on-device Qualcomm Secure Processing unit. In addition to improved security within the operating system, this new Secure Processing unit also creates cryptographically sealed photos making it the first Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) compliant smartphone camera for ensuring image integrity in a world of increasing misinformation and deepfakes. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Qualcomm is working with Truepic, who is a CAI partner alongside Adobe, Twitter The New York Times and others.

You can watch the full Snapdragon 888 unveil on Qualcomm’s Day 2 Keynote from its Snapdragon Tech Summit, below:

Qualcomm hasn’t set a specific date for when the Snapdragon 888 will be available, but it expects the first devices with it at their core to be released in Q1 2021, with commitments from Oppo, Motorola and others having already been made.

As we’ve seen with past Snapdragon SoCs and the smartphones that use them, it’s possible not all of these features will be seen in a single device. Some flagship smartphones that use the new Snapdragon 888 might choose to make the most of certain photo and video features, based on the accompanying hardware they put inside their device. While Snapdragon is offering plenty of computational functionality, it’s ultimately up to the smartphone manufacturers to extract the most from it with equally-capable storage, camera systems and more.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Qualcomm shows off the first 8K footage captured with its Snapdragon 865 chipset

05 Feb

One of the defining features of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 865 chipset, which we covered back in December, is its ability to shoot 8K video. We’re yet to see a device make the most of the 865 Snapdragon, but Qualcomm has shared a teaser video showing the 8K resolution in all its glory.

The device Qualcomm used to capture the video is a prototype smartphone with a Sony Sony IMX586 image sensor inside. It was captured back in November 2019 at various locations around Arizona, including the Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and the Petroglyphs near Antelope Canyon. It’s suggested, of course, to view this in a compatible browser and on the highest-resolution screen you can find to make the most of the footage.

Below are a few BTS shots shared with DPReview:

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You can read more about the video capture and Snapdragon 865 5G Mobile Platform on Qualcomm’s blog post.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Qualcomm shows off 4K HDR video captured on a smartphone with its Snapdragon 855 processor

05 Jun

To show off the incredible image capabilities of its latest smartphone chipset, Qualcomm has shared a 4K HDR video filmed on a prototype smartphone powered by its Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform.

The video, which was filmed in Maui, Hawaii during Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit in December 2019, was captured on a development platform—effectively a prototype smartphone—equipped with Sony’s 22.5-megapixel IMX318 image sensor at the heart of it. The footage was shot in the HDR 10 format with 10-bit color depth and in the Rec. 2020 color gamut. It’s worth noting the Snapdragon 855 is actually capable of both recording and playing back HDR 10+, which uses dynamic metadata instead of static metadata to provide more accurate rendering, so newer smartphones with even better image sensors could technically pull more impressive footage than what’s shown in the above video.

A screenshot from Qualcomm’s spec sheet that shows the photo and video capabilities of its 855 processor.

Qualcomm notes in its explainer blog post that the footage captured with compatible smartphones works with YouTube HDR, so it’s ready to share in its full dynamic range glory straight from compatible devices. Below are a few behind-the-scenes photos of the video shoot on Maui:

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According to Qualcomm’s website there are 11 smartphones currently confirmed to be using the Snapdragon 855 chipset: the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, OPPO Reno 5G, ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G, Motorola Moto z3 with 5G Moto Mod, LG V50 ThinQ 5G, Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Sony Xperia 1, LG G8 ThinQ, Xiaomi Mi 9 and Samsung Galaxy S10. However, not all of those are confirmed to support the 4K HDR video capabilities, as it’s up to the device manufacturer to make use of the Snapdragon 855’s video capabilities.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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New Qualcomm Spectra system brings 3D depth sensing to Android devices

16 Aug

Qualcomm launched the Clear Sight dual-camera system—which was powered by its Spectra ISP and used a combination of RGB and monochrome images sensors—in 2016. Today the company announced the second generation Spectra Module that introduces 3D computer vision to Qualcomm-powered Android devices.

The Qualcomm system is a dual-camera setup that is capable of sensing depth and motion in real time. In a smartphone’s rear camera, this technology could be used in apps to track motion and measure subject distance, which could ostensibly help improve simulated shallow depth-of-field effects.

In a front-facing camera, the Qualcomm system could help improve biometric security through iris scanning or 3D facial recognition. One of the technology’s advantages is the capability to capture and process image data in real time using off-the-shelf parts, unlike Google’s Tango project that relies on specialized hardware.

Qualcomm hasn’t yet announced any manufacturing partners yet, but given the popularity of the Qualcomm platform it’s arguably only a matter of time before we’ll see the technology pop up in the first Android devices.

Press Release

Qualcomm First to Announce Depth-Sensing Camera Technology Designed For Android Ecosystem

— Unveils next-generation Qualcomm Spectra ISP for computer vision, extended reality and computational photography technologies—

SAN DIEGO — August 15, 2017 — Today Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM), through its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., announced an expansion to the Qualcomm® Spectra™ Module Program, capable of improved biometric authentication and high-resolution depth sensing, designed to meet growing demands of photo and video for a broad range of mobile devices and head mounted displays (HMD). This module program is built on the cutting-edge technology behind the Qualcomm® SpectraTM embedded image signal processors (ISP) family. Engineered by Qualcomm Technologies from the ground up, Qualcomm Spectra paves the way for future image quality and computer vision innovations in upcoming Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM Mobile Platforms.

“Whether used for computational photography, video recording, or for computer vision applications that require accurate motion tracking, it’s clear that power efficient camera image signal processing has become more important for the next generation of mobile user experiences,” said Tim Leland, vice president of product management, Qualcomm TechnologiesInc. “Our breakthrough advancements in visual quality and computer vision, combined with our family of integrated Spectra ISPs for Snapdragon, are designed to support an ecosystem of cutting edge mobile applications for our customers.”

Together, the new ISPs and camera modules are engineered to support superior image quality and new computer vision use cases that utilize deep learning techniques and bokeh quality image experiences with a faster time to market for smartphone and HMD devices. The next-generation ISPs feature a new camera architecture designed for advancements in computer vision, image quality and power efficiency for the next Snapdragon mobile and VR platforms. The camera module program additions consist of a trio of camera modules, including an iris authentication module, a passive depth sensing module and an active depth sensing module.

Qualcomm Spectra Module Program

Launched last year, the Qualcomm Spectra Module Program was designed to help customers accelerate time to market for devices with stunning image quality and advanced camera technology. Last year’s offerings provided customers with optimized, dual-camera module solutions that make it easy for manufacturers to produce smartphone cameras with improved low light photography and video recording with smooth zoom. Now, the camera module program is being expanded to include new camera modules capable of utilizing active sensing for superior biometric authentication, and structured light for a variety of computer vision applications that require real-time, dense depth map generation and segmentation.

Second-generation Qualcomm Spectra ISP

The second-generation Qualcomm Spectra ISP is the next family of integrated ISPs that utilizes new hardware and software architecture designed specifically for advancements in computer vision, image quality, and power efficiency in future Snapdragon platforms. It features multiframe noise reduction for superior photographic quality, along with hardware-accelerated motion compensated temporal filtering (MCTF), and inline electronic image stabilization (EIS) for superior camcorder-like video quality.

The low-power, high-performance motion tracking capabilities of the Qualcomm Spectra ISP, in addition to optimized simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms, are designed to support new extended reality (XR) use cases for virtual and augmented reality applications that require SLAM.

The Qualcomm Spectra family of ISPs and new Qualcomm Spectra camera modules are expected to be part of the next flagship Snapdragon Mobile Platform.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G – and now we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, IoT, healthcare and data center, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Qualcomm launches Clear Sight dual-camera system for smartphones

18 Sep

Chipset-maker Qualcomm has today announced its new Clear Sight dual-camera system. Clear Sight is not designed for optical zooming, like the dual-cameras in the LG G5 or iPhone 7 Plus, but instead adopts a similar concept as the Leica-branded dual-camera setup in the Huawei P9.

Both lenses have the same focal length but one captures image data on a color sensor, the other on a monochrome imager. The sensors are technically identical but the monochrome variant does not use a color filter. This means it cannot record any color information but in turn can capture three times as much light as the color sensor. As a result the black and white images have better contrast, lower noise levels and increased sharpness. By merging the image information from both sensors, color is added to the final output image.

This task is handled by Qualcomm’s Spectra ISP which is featured in the company’s Snapdragon 820 and 821 mobile chipsets. Clear Sight consists of a hardware module with two cameras, plus the corresponding computational algorithms that enable the Spectra ISPs to capture both images at exactly the same time and merge them. Qualcomm has not yet provided any detailed specifications, nor do we know what upcoming devices will feature Clear Sight. It certainly looks like dual-cameras are here to stay, though.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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