Oppo and Hasselblad team up to promise big AI-powered photo gains for 2024’s phones

The Oppo and Hasselblad brands are two that have been very much linked of late, with the latter’s name plastered across the back of plenty of phones made by the former. That includes the Oppo Find X6 Pro and will include future phones into 2024 and likely beyond. As part of that, the two companies have announced a collaboration that will see them co-develop the next generation of HyperTone Camera Systems for next year’s devices.

Beyond just slapping the Hasselblad name on Oppo phones, the new collaboration will apparently “usher in a new era in computational photography,” something that makes no bones about what we can expect moving forward — photos that leverage the power of artificial intelligence in order to give us the best photos possible.

Solving traditional computational photography issues

Announced via a press release published on the Oppo website, the new camera system will apparently see Oppo “leading a revolution by following aesthetics rather than relying on industry traditions of certain technical specifications.” To do that, Oppo will be leaning very heavily on what AI can do in order to improve the shots we take.

It has some big numbers to back that up, too. The HyperTone Camera System will improve clarity by 30%, we’re told, while also reducing noise by an impressive 60% by using AI RAW fusion. The new algorithm requires 400% more computing power to function but the resulting image will be worth it, we’re told.

The new camera system will have plenty of buzzwords to go with it, too. “HyperTone Camera System comes with the industry-leading HyperTone ProXDR Display,” the press release reads. “By precisely recording the brightness of 12 million pixels, ProXDR technology can unlock up to eight times more dynamic range on-screen, restoring the natural tone to make viewing photos much more realistic.” It goes on to add that Oppo is also working to make ProXDR compatible with the existing Ultra HDR standard.

Alongside new HDR capabilities, we’re also told to expect improved portrait mode shots with improved skin tones and a more cinematic bokeh effect.

As for when all of this will be useful to anyone, the Oppo Find X7 series is likely to be the first chance we get to take the upgraded Hypertone Camera System for a spin.