OPPO’s USC under-screen camera tech Gen 3

The next big thing is USC. OPPO’s USC under-screen camera tech prototype was shown to the media, although it is really the third generation since 2018 with more than 200 patents behind it.

The USC driver is that users want higher screen-to-body ratios (OPPO has some of the highest already). USC offers more usable space than an O-hole or Notch give – 100% screen usability.

There were seven key issues that OPPO had to solve to make USC a reality: display transmittance; reflectance; uniformity; Gamma correction; colour shift; and brightness decay. The USC Gen 3 uses a mix of AI and new pixel structure to deliver USC without compromise.

OPPO’s USC solution

OPPO’s USC solution is in two main areas – screen and camera sensor

Screen

The new solution shrinks the size of each pixel over the camera area without decreasing the number of pixels. This means a 400-PPI high-quality display even in the camera area.
OPPO has replaced the traditional screen wiring with an innovative transparent wiring material. It reduces the width of the wiring by 50%. The result is a much finer display quality with a smoother visual experience.
Improved control of screen accuracy, colour, and brightness. The current standard has a 1-pixel circuit to drive 2 pixels (1-to-2) in the screen area above the camera. OPPO has introduced a new solution using proprietary screen technology, with each pixel circuit driving only 1 pixel (1-to-1). This allows the chromaticity and brightness of the entire screen to be precisely controlled with a deviation of about 2%. It allows for the accurate display of smaller fonts, better representation of textural details and colours.
The 1-to-1 pixel circuit and dedicated optimisation algorithm can improve the screen’s lifespan by up to 50%.

Camera

AI can compensate for issues like camera blur and image glare. OPPO has trained its AI diffraction reduction model using tens of thousands of images to control problems caused by diffraction at the light source, allowing users to capture clearer, more natural-looking images.