This article was published on August 15, 2015

Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 820 chip promises better mobile photos


Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 820 chip promises better mobile photos

Qualcomm put the spotlight on its upcoming Snapdragon 820 chip at the SIGGRAPH 2015 conference this week, and it is notable for enhancements to the chip’s GPU architecture and Image Signal Processor (ISP). Together, says Qualcomm, these promise to improve the quality of photos shot from mobile devices.

According to Qualcomm’s blog, the Adreno 530 will deliver up to 40 percent improvement to graphics performance and computing compared to the previous Adreno 430.

unreal-engine-demo_2-feature
Images captured from the real-time rendering demo shows the texture quality, reflective surfaces, and lighting effects from the Adreno 530 GPU. Credit: Qualcomm

In addition, the brand new Spectra camera dual-ISP supports “the latest 14-bit sensors for a wider range of colors and more natural skin tones.” In addition, it cites a “hybrid autofocus framework and multi-sensor fusion algorithms” to enhance computational photography.

Tim Leland, vice president of product management for Qualcomm issued this statement as part of the company’s announcement:

We’re significantly enhancing the visual processing capabilities of Snapdragon to support next-generation user experiences related to computational photography, computer vision, virtual reality and photo-realistic graphics on mobile devices, all while maximizing battery life”

Qualcomm Spectra ISP, together with our Adreno 5xx-class GPU, brings an entirely new level of imaging to smartphones, and is designed to allow Snapdragon-powered devices to capture ultra-clear, vivid photos and videos regardless of motion and lighting conditions and display them with the color accuracy that nature intended.

The Snapdragon 820 with the Adreno 530 and Qualcomm Spectra are expected to show up in new devices in the first half of 2016.

➤ Qualcomm [HT to DPR Connect]

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