vivo and Zeiss have worked hard to develop the camera technology for the upcoming X90 flagship series. The system consists of several parts which are responsible for specific tasks. The ultimate goal of the system is to create a digital image that perfectly matches what the human eye sees in the scene.
This generation focuses on two main scenes that are still difficult for smartphones: taking portraits and shooting at night. Part of this technology was developed by vivo itself, part was developed in collaboration with its imaging partner Zeiss.
It starts with the optical system, which uses advanced lenses and coatings and also improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the image sensor. After that, the True Color Restoration Engine is responsible for determining the right white balance.
Camera samples from the upcoming vivo X90 series
Next up is the Ultra-Clear Image Quality Engine, a super resolution algorithm that uses a virtual model of the lens to recover approximately 35% of information lost due to optical imperfections. A multi-frame mode is available to further enhance image quality and dynamic range. This is particularly useful for a periscope objective.
Demo of the zoom range: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 3.5x
For a realistic representation of a scene, the system must understand its environment, so the phone measures the brightness and color temperature of the ambient light.
The next system is dedicated to portrait photography and is itself divided into three parts. The first part tries to understand the scene and detects up to 103 characteristic points of the face and also takes into account the pose of the subject. The next two parts divide the work: one covers the topic and applies machine learning beauty filters, the other adjusts the background by adjusting different quadrants (blur, tone, brightness, etc.).
There is another dedicated system, this one used for photography in low light conditions. The maximum sensitivity has been doubled and the camera can reach ISO 102,400. The system is good enough for capturing a photo of a starry night sky without a tripod or long exposure, says vivo.
As for the camera, vivo claims that the sensor used in the next-generation flagships will have 77% better light sensitivity than the custom ISOCELL GNV sensor used in the X80 series. vivo and Zeiss are also developing a new 50mm portrait lens.
A nightly confrontation between vivo’s upcoming flagship and an unnamed competitor
Much of the processing is handled by a new acceleration engine, which appears to be a successor to ISP V1. It was developed in-house and accelerates deep learning and computer vision activities, it combines traditional ISP approaches with modern AI-based solutions.
The custom processing hardware was designed to work on video as well. To manage all the required data there is the SRAM integrated on the customized vivo chip. Compared to off-chip RAM, it has lower latency and uses less power. According to vivo, its chip can achieve 16.3 trillion operations per second (TOPS) per Watt.
This was just a preview of the vivo X90 series camera system. The company has yet to set an announcement date, but the new series is expected to arrive in the coming months.
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