Qualcomm’s new 1st Gen Snapdragon 8 chipset offers triple ISP design, can handle up to 3.2 Gig megapixels per second: Digital Photography Review

Qualcomm has announced details of its next-generation mobile chipset, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In addition to the new naming, the new mobile platform brings some firsts and improvements over the already existing Snapdragon 888+ predecessor.

Starting with image-focused innovations, Qualcomm’s new 1st Gen Snapdragon 8 processors feature Snapdragon Sight Technology — the name given to the 18-bit image signal processor (ISP) on the chipset. This marks the first time that 18-bit ISPs have been developed for mobile devices, and three of them are offered on the new mobile platform. In total, the ISP can handle up to 3.2 gig megapixels per second, more than four times that of its predecessor. That kind of bandwidth means you can capture up to 200MP photos from a single camera module, or up to 36MP photos from three camera modules at once. That also means 8K HDR and HDR10+ video will be possible.

Qualcomm says the new triple ISP array can support up to 30fps (fps) still image capture with three 36MP cameras, one 64MP camera and one 36MP camera, or a single 108MP camera, all without lag shutter.

The ISP will also have a dedicated Bokeh Engine for on-chip background blur, and Qualcomm has partnered with Leica to deliver a collection of Leitz filters Appearance that reproduces the unique out-of-focus blur seen in some devices. Leica’s most iconic lens design.

Artificial intelligence is once again at the forefront of Qualcomm’s new processor and behind many of the AI-powered features it has to offer. At the heart of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine that uses both high-performance and power-efficient cores to deliver twice the memory and speed of its predecessor. This powers not only the aforementioned Leica Leitz Look filters, but also Qualcomm’s natural language processing capabilities for personal assistants and a wellness feature, designed in collaboration with of the Sonde Health, which uses on-device AI to analyze user voice patterns to determine if device owners are at risk for various health problems, such as asthma, depression, COVID-19 , etc. or not.

Qualcomm has also included a new Always-On ISP, separate from the three main ISP cores. This dedicated ISP will allow manufacturers to keep a camera running without draining the battery. While the privacy implications of this are certainly something to consider, Qualcomm says the technology can be used for always-on face unlock and automatically locking the screen or hiding information. sensitive alarm if the always-on camera module realizes someone else is looking at the screen (or peeking over your shoulder for that matter).

Speaking of security, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has a dedicated Trust Management Engine to keep users’ data safe on the device, including personal effects like digital car keys, licenses drive, etc. using the Android Ready Secure Element (SE) standard.

In terms of connectivity, the 1st Gen Snapdragon 8 mobile platform includes Qualcomm Technologies’ 4th Generation Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System, which delivers speeds of up to 10Gbps. There’s also support for more 5G bands than ever before, as well as global multi-SIM support. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity have also been improved, with speeds up to 3.6Gbps over Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, and improved Bluetooth support, including lossless audio via Technology Snapdragon sound, used by Qualcomm aptX lossless technology for CD-quality playback over Bluetooth.

If the years have not passed, we can expect to see the first devices using Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform in the first quarter of 2022.