If you have been following tech closely over the past year, you may have heard of Pixelworks. Pixelworks' Iris 5 visual processor made the news at MWC 2019 for bringing along several key technologies like HDR10+ support, TrueClarity Smart Motion Processing for removing artifacts, multi-adaptive display for optimal viewing in varied lighting, and importantly, real-time SDR to HDR conversion. Pixelworks has now announced that it has signed a multi-year collaboration agreement with OPPO to develop advanced display systems for its smartphones and to integrate the latest Pixelworks' visual processor and software solutions.

Pixelworks Iris 5 visual processor can be found in devices like the Black Shark 2 Pro, the ROG Phone II, and the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2. The Iris 5 visual processor is credited for a fair few features, such as the ability to playback video in higher refresh rates using MEMC (Motion Estimation and Motion Compensation), as found on the Black Shark 2 Pro; or to dynamically adjust the brightness and tone of the display to match the ambient lighting, as on the Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2. The Iris chip is also credited for being good at handling SDR to HDR conversion. This process takes a source video in SDR and maps its colors to HDR, providing a more vibrant video experience. We had the opportunity to witness this SDR to HDR conversion at Pixelwork's CES 2020 booth -- an SDR video played back on the Nokia 7.2 had better colors than on the iPhone 11, thanks to this HDR conversion.

Pixelworks collaboration agreement with OPPO calls on the companies to "closely cooperate in a wide range of activities related to display and visual processing, including integration and technical support, content optimization with cloud partners as well as long-term product roadmap collaboration." The press release goes on to mention that the first phone with this collaboration in place will launch in the first half of 2020, indicating that a future OPPO smartphone could feature an Iris visual processor. OPPO's upcoming Find X2 flagship is slated for launch in H1 2020, and it is claimed to have a heavy emphasis on display quality, which ties in well with this collaboration with Pixelworks. We hope to learn more on this end soon.


Source: Global Newswire