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Where does this smartphone hide its selfie camera?

Answer: Under the screen.

Chinese smartphone-maker Oppo thinks it has found a way to eliminate the annoying notch in today’s bezel-less smartphones. Just put the selfie camera beneath the display itself.

First teased in a short video earlier this month, the company recently unveiled the first prototype of an under-screen smartphone camera at a tradeshow in Shanghai this week. It works thanks to a redesigned pixel structure and custom transparent material in the part of the display covering the lens. The lens itself has a wider aperture than most selfie cameras, as well as a larger sensor.

The Verge reports that Oppo is still working on compensating for the inherent reduction in photo quality that comes with putting the lens behind a screen. It is fine-tuning algorithms to counteract the unique issues like haze, glare and color cast that the screen creates in photos. As for when this tech might be seen in a commercially available device, the company has yet to reveal a date but says it should be coming “in the near future.”

OPPO's brand new solution for full-screen display - Under-screen Camera (USC) has just been unveiled here at #MWC19 Shanghai! #MoreThanTheSeen pic.twitter.com/k5qEQ3QNta — OPPO India (@oppomobileindia) June 26, 2019
Kate is a senior copy editor in Northern California. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from the University of California, Davis.