Domestic production is about to break out! OPPO self-developed chip is coming: Android camera collectively surpasses Apple?

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Since the mobile phone was equipped with a camera, the imaging system has become an important part of the mobile phone, and the quality of taking pictures has naturally become an important selling point to measure the value of the mobile phone. Even though the camera of the mobile phone at that time was generally only a few million pixels, even though the image ability of the mobile phone at that time was basically just a picture, everyone was still keen to record the bits and pieces of life with their mobile phones. Nothing else, just for convenience.

with the development of science and technology, the functions of smart phones have become more and more abundant, and users have higher and higher requirements for image functions. Multi-camera, periscope super telephoto, telephoto macro lens, billion-pixel main camera, super-large bottom main camera ... From the unremitting efforts of mobile phone manufacturers in mobile phone image specifications, the image function has become one of the most important areas for mobile phone manufacturers in recent years.

This morning, Weibo Digital Blogger @ Digital Chat Station broke the news that OPPO is developing an independent image processing chip (ISP), hoping to make further progress on the mobile phone image. If the news is true, this ISP chip will become the first self-developed chip of OPPO, which is definitely a historical breakthrough of OPPO, and may even be the key to the next level of OPPO's flagship mobile phone.

so the question is, what is the function of the so-called ISP chip? Why do mobile phone manufacturers start to develop ISP chips themselves? Will OPPO's "core-making" milestone start with this self-developed ISP chip? We can take this opportunity to discuss these issues.

before we know the function of ISP chips developed by mobile phone manufacturers, we need to know some related concepts. The so-called ISP, the abbreviation of Image Signal Processor, is generally used to process the image signal output by Image Sensor. It is the core device of image processing, occupies the core leading position in the mobile phone image system and is an important part of the mobile phone chip system.

According to the article Overview of Camera System by Meizu Kernel Team, when a user shoots a scene, the scene generates an optical image through a Lens, and then it is projected onto an Image Sensor, and the original digital image in Bayer format is generated through photoelectric conversion and A/D conversion, and then it is output to an ISP (Image Signal Processor), and finally the image visible to the user is output through algorithm processing.

(Source: Overview of Image Signal Processing Algorithms of CSDN Forum)

In other words, the sharpening, noise reduction and color optimization of pictures that we often talk about when taking photos, as well as the functions of autofocus, automatic exposure, automatic noise reduction, color adjustment, object recognition and automatic white balance that are common in computational photography, and even the support of dual cameras and three cameras that we have long been accustomed to are basically completed in ISP. Only excellent ISP chip and excellent camera module can bring excellent imaging effect.

of course, in view of the importance of ISPs, the built-in ISPs of various processor manufacturers are becoming more and more powerful. For example, the Spectra 58 ISP built into Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor can take photos and videos at a speed of 2.7 billion pixels per second, and it has triple concurrent and triple parallel capabilities, supports single-frame line-by-line HDR function, and greatly improves the ability to calculate images, and its performance can meet the needs of the mobile phone market. Moreover, the use of built-in ISP can also reduce the difficulty of development, reduce the cost and price, improve the speed of product listing, and help to occupy the market.

however, using the built-in ISP certainly has its disadvantages. First of all, the built-in ISP is encapsulated in the processor, and basically only when the processor is updated can the corresponding built-in ISP get iterative update. Nowadays, under the background of high-speed iteration of image sensors, the built-in ISP basically keeps the frequency of updating once a year, which really can't keep up with the pace of manufacturers.

secondly, the performance of the ISP of the mobile phone based on the same processor is naturally the same, and the conditions for tuning are fixed, which is not conducive to product differentiation. By choosing a self-developed ISP, OPPO can design an external ISP driver according to its own needs, design its own focusing, noise reduction and exposure strategies, and perhaps get better picture quality than the built-in ISP. Moreover, if you choose an external self-developed ISP, you can match different types of ISPs with the same processor, so as to realize product differentiation and provide users with more abundant and high-quality products.

for OPPO, the significance of self-developed ISP goes far beyond these. In addition to Huawei, Xiaomi and OPPO are the two mobile phone brands that are most interested in chips in China. According to 36Kr's report, OPPO set up a chip technology committee as early as October 219, including many technicians from OPPO, realme and Yijia, and named the core-building project "Mariana Plan".

in November 22, OPPO applied to the European intellectual property office for the trademark of OPPO M1, which is considered to be the first self-developed chip of OPPO. In March of the following year, Weibo Digital Blogger @ Digital Chat Station broke the news that the first project produced by OPPO's Mariana Project was about to be made public, but it was not the most anticipated mobile phone SOC chip. According to the current news, OPPO M1 is probably the name of this self-developed ISP chip. One and a half years after its establishment, OPPO's Mariana Plan has finally achieved results.

for OPPO, who is still a newcomer in the field of core-building, it is naturally unrealistic to drum up the flagship processor at once. It is wise to start with ISP image signal processor, which is very important to the image function of mobile phone. We should know that ISP sparrow is small and complete, and it contains CPU, SUP IP, IF and other devices. It can be regarded as a complete SOC, which can run various algorithm programs and process image signals in real time.

if OPPO can successfully launch its own ISP chip this year, it will definitely be a good start for them. The first achievement was achieved only two years after the establishment of the Mariana Project. This speed is really amazing. After all, the cost of manpower and material resources required for chip research and development is considerable, and the rapid appearance of OPPO M1 is inseparable from the huge investment of OPPO.

in the past year, OPPO invested in many companies related to chip design, such as hanwei electronics and micro-capacity technology, and set up a chip research and development center in dongguan, Guangdong. According to informed sources, OPPO's chip team comes from top chip manufacturers, many of whom are engineers from Xiaomi and Huawei Hisilicon. The joining of these senior engineers has undoubtedly saved OPPO a lot of detours and accelerated the output of project results.

for OPPO, the self-developed ISP chip is only the beginning. As a plan that has invested a lot of manpower and material resources, "Mariana Plan" can be said to be related to the future competitiveness of OPPO. Making its products have more stable performance and unique functions through unique chips will give OPPO products obvious advantages in the future market competition.

before discussing this issue, we must understand that self-developed ISP chips are not uncommon in the mobile phone industry. Before OPPO, Xiaomi, Huawei, Apple and Samsung all launched their own ISP chips. Take Huawei as an example. Huawei has integrated a self-developed ISP chip since the Kirin 95 processor, which can optimize the processing of photos from the bottom, and Huawei has also become the first camp of mobile phone photography in the world.

Xiao Lei believes that self-developed ISP is likely to become a new trend of mobile images in today's increasingly fierce arms race for mobile images. You know, in moving images, only the sensor quality, lens quality and ISP processing ability can determine the final imaging effect. Since mobile phone manufacturers can look for customized sensors from professional manufacturers for better imaging effect, in order to improve the imaging ability of mobile phones, they will naturally study ISP chips.

Finally, the road of self-developing chips has never been an easy task, involving capital, technology, market and other aspects. Although OPPO M1 may only be an independent ISP chip, it carries OPPO's pursuit and dream of technology. You know, Huawei's Kirin chip has also experienced more than ten years of research before it has today's market position. As a newcomer to chips, OPPO needs to persist in accumulation and research and development, so that it can achieve its goal step by step

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