Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Phones
  3. Android
  4. Mobile
  5. News

Oppo targets faster camera A.I. and better lowlight video with MariSilicon X chip

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

Oppo has announced the MariSilicon X, its first ]Neural Processing Unit (NPU) dedicated to improving the speed and performance of the Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) used for its smartphone cameras. Built using a 6nm process, the MariSilicon X is designed to take away the heavy lifting that A.I. needs from the phone’s Central Processing Unit (CPU), to improve overall camera performance, particularly in lowlight video.

Oppo MariSilicon chip
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While Oppo has announced the MariSilicon X now, you won’t see it in action until next year, as the company says the next Find X flagship smartphone will be the first to feature the chip, and it won’t be revealed until early 2022. This is exciting as Oppo made one of the best cameras we saw during 2021 with the Find X3 Pro, so we look forward to seeing how the new NPU improves it even further.

Recommended Videos

Now you know what it is and when it’s coming, what does the MariSilicon X do? Oppo used a lot of numbers and stats to show what makes the new NPU special, with the claim that it delivers 20x faster A.I. processing in 4K video than the Find X3 Pro being the headline. Regarding the chip’s design, it has a 20-bit Image Signal Processor (ISP), extra DDR memory bandwidth so it doesn’t need to share with the main CPU, and a high level of power efficiency.

The chip’s A.I. processing will enable phones to shoot 4K resolution video at night in lossless RAW, with less noise and more color and brightness. Although we have not seen this in action yet, we were shown some test sample images shot with the MariSilicon X during a presentation, and the difference in brightness and color vibrancy between it and competing hardware was considerable. Oppo promises the live preview will be accurate, too, so the resulting footage will match what you saw with your own eyes.

MariSilicon X’s Ultra HDR ISP has a 20-bit/120db dynamic range, which Oppo says is 4x the dynamic range available from the Find X3 Pro’s camera, and using the lossless 20-bit RAW processing produces a high +8db signal-to-noise ratio, reducing the noise you don’t want to see and revealing more of the detail and color you do. The chip also adds a RGBW Pro mode.

Oppo joins chip makers like MediaTek investing in high-performance NPUs, and other manufacturers like Huawei and Google in producing custom, dedicated NPU and ISP pairings. The next Find X series smartphones from Oppo, with at least one featuring the MariSilicon X, are expected to arrive during the first three months of 2022.

Andy Boxall
Andy Boxall
Former Senior Mobile Writer
Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.
Topics
The dream of uber cheap phones for kids and grandparents is effectively dead, thanks to AI
AI's demand for memory chips has made budget smartphones unprofitable to build.
Electronics, Mobile Phone, Phone

That $100 phone you were going to grab for your kid's first device, or hand down to grandma, could become a dream in a while. AI's hunger for memory chips just made the entire budget phone category borderline impossible to build.

So how bad are we actually talking?

Read more
Apple’s new Upgrade program launches on Tuesday with major changes
Apple's new leasing program might drop AppleCare coverage from the bundle.
iPhone 17 Pro Max

Buying your next Apple device could soon look like leasing a car. Apple is launching its new Apple Upgrade program on Tuesday, July 28, replacing new enrollments in the long-running iPhone Upgrade Program with a lease-based option that covers iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches.

Backed by Klarna, the program is designed to lower the upfront cost of Apple's premium devices, but it is also raising questions about whether you'll actually own what you're paying for.

Read more
Setting up your dorm desk? These are the phone stands I’d actually spend my money on
From a $2 folding stand to a three-in-one Apple charging dock, these are the phone stands worth setting up this semester.
Analog Clock, Clock, Electronics

A phone stand is one of the smallest purchases on any back-to-school list, but it's also one of the easiest to get wrong, especially since there are dozens of options available on Amazon. A good phone stand is one that does its job well and, more importantly, doesn't put much of a dent in your budget.

This is one of those product categories where you don’t need to spend big, unless a MagSafe dock or a multi-device charging stand is genuinely useful for your desk or dorm setup. That is why this list begins with the most affordable options and works its way up to the more expensive ones. From a two-pack that costs about as much as a coffee to a three-in-one Apple charging station, I picked eight of Amazon's best-reviewed phone stands worth considering this back-to-school season.

Read more