Qualcomm recently reiterated the advantages offered by its latest flagship SoC (system on chip), Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In particular, Qualcomm emphasized the advantages regarding the camera that comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Qualcomm confirms that Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with various features regarding the camera it offers; allows smartphone users to take pictures with better quality than when using most or previous smartphone SoCs, such as the Snapdragon 888/888+ which was the previous flagship.
Various premium features regarding the camera on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are called Qualcomm with Snapdragon Sight. What are these features? Some of these are higher bit depth, higher processing speed, better night mode, and HDR (high dynamic range) support at the highest video resolutions; Of course, compared to the previous generation.
The component that is the star of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 capability with respect to the camera, you could say is the ISP (image signal processor) which has experienced a significant increase compared to Qualcomm Snapdragon 888.
If Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 comes with triple ISP 14 bit, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 comes with triple ISP 18 bit. Not only that, the ISP on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can also process at speeds of up to 3.2 gigapixels per second, while the ISP on Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 is only up to 2.7 gigapixels per second. Actually there is one more ISP on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. But that ISP is located in the Sensing Hub and is intended for always-on cameras. The always-on camera for example can be used to detect users so that the three users leave their smartphone, the smartphone in question can be automatically locked.
The presence of three ISPs makes Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 able to take pictures from three cameras / sensors at once like before. However, the 18 bit color depth per channel allows Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to capture colors with smoother gradations than Qualcomm Snapdragon 888; Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can capture 4,096 times as much data as Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. In other words, if the camera sensor used supports it, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can capture colors that are more like the original.
Meanwhile, processing speeds that can be higher — up to 3.2 gigapixels per second — allow Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to process data faster than Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. ISPs with processing speeds of 3.2 gigapixels per second, for example, help Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to be able to take 36 MP @ 30 fps pictures without shutter lag from three cameras at once — 36 MP @ 30 fps each.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 itself can do it only up to 28 MP. The same goes for higher resolution images from a single camera; Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can take pictures at 108 MP @ 30 fps without shutter lag, while Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 can take pictures only up to 84 MP @ 30 fps without shutter lag.
The ISP on Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is also claimed to support a wider dynamic range. Qualcomm claims Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 supports a 4 stop higher dynamic range than before. This higher dynamic range certainly helps Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to capture high-contrast images better. In other words, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has HDR capabilities that are more capable than before.
Along with other improvements, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is capable of capturing up to 30 18-bit images for its night mode; higher than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 which can only capture up to 6 14-bit images for its night mode. This makes Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 able to offer better images in night mode, aka being able to offer better low light images. The ability to capture 30 images for the night mode in question thanks to the so-called Mega Multi-Frame Engine.
As for HDR at the highest video resolution, it refers to the ability of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to take 8K videos with HDR. Previously, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 did support 8K video capture, but not HDR. Interestingly, besides being able to take 8K HDR @ 30 fps videos, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can also take 8K HDR videos and 64 MP photos at once.
In addition, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 also improves its AI capabilities. One of them is AI (artificial intelligence) for face recognition. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, among others, supports 300 points of facial landmarks for facial recognition, an increase from Qualcomm Snapdragon 888’s 115 points. These more points are claimed to make Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 able to recognize faces better, including when part of the face is covered like wearing a mask.
