Here's how Xiaomi's radical under-display selfie camera works

Xiaomi and Oppo made tech headlines yesterday when they demonstrated under-display selfie cameras on social media. The tech, which was thought to be a while away from release, might be coming sooner than you think.

Now, Xiaomi senior vice-president Wang Xiang has taken to Twitter to detail how its take on the technology works.

Wang notes that the screen has a small section with a transparent display made out of a “special low-reflective glass with high transmittance.” The transparent display works like a normal screen when you’re not in camera mode — but what about picture quality?

The executive says you’re looking at a 20MP under-display selfie camera, and claims this solution will offer better pictures than another noteworthy alternative.

“By allowing more light into the lens, the display-embedded camera combo is able to produce perfect selfies, clearer and crisper than the pinhole camera solution [presumably the punch-hole camera – ed] when the camera is activated,” reads an excerpt of Wang’s slide.

It’s a very bold claim though, as picture quality is probably the main concern regarding under-display selfie cameras. After all, the selfie camera has to essentially peek through the screen, much like in-display fingerprint sensors have to peek through a display. And we all know how poorly the first generation of in-display scanners fared. Would you buy a phone with a first-generation under-display selfie camera? Let us know in the comments!

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