Xiaomi has announced that it will officially start mass production of smartphones equipped with the 3rd Generation under-display camera technology next year. Under-display cameras allow manufacturers to build bezel-less all-screen phones devoid of notches or cut-out holes.
“This marks Xiaomi’s latest strategic step towards the high-end smartphone segment bolstered by the company’s continuous technological innovation,” the company said in a blog.
Although Xiaomi’s first and second generation models possessed this technology, they never made it to mass production.
“In the third-generation of Under-Display Camera Technology, Xiaomi has greatly improved the full-screen effect through self-developed pixel arrangement, and through the optimization of the camera algorithm, allowing it to show the same performance as conventional front cameras. These breakthroughs have allowed Xiaomi to improve the technology and put it into mass-production,” the company said.
Xiaomi said the self-developed pixel arrangement used in Xiaomi’s 3rd Generation Under-Display Camera Technology allows the screen to pass light through the gap area of sub-pixels, allowing each single pixel to retain a complete RGB subpixel layout without sacrificing pixel density.
“Combined with Xiaomi`s self-developed optimization algorithm, the new under-display camera offers a fully updated photography experience, matching the imaging performance of conventional front cameras,” the blog added.
Under-display cameras have been teased by smartphone manufactures for a while now, however, the technology is yet to witness proper commercialisation.
Xiaomi and Oppo both introduced the technology in June last year, with the latter showcasing a working prototype at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai. However, Endgadget reported at the time that the effect produced on the Oppo phone wasn’t perfect, with the area of the screen above the camera appearing more pixelated than the rest of the screen. Vivo had also planned to show a similar technology in a concept phone at MWC this year, before the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi may not be the first smartphone company to bring the under-display camera technology to a mass-market device. Chinese rival ZTE said it plans to unveil a smartphone with an under-display camera on September 1, called the ZTE Axon 20 5G.