[OPPO Find X5 Pro General] sureshkumargs:
Everything you want to know about the Oppo's cutting edge NPU​

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MariSilicon X: Oppo has recently unveiled Find X5 & X5 Pro, the next-gen smartphone range in their X-Series lineup. The models were equipped with the highest possible hardware specs right now. The pro version of these smartphones has got the all-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset with the most powerful Adreno 730 GPU working under its good. On the other hand, Find X5 comes with Snapdragon 888, the most powerful chipset right next to Gen 1. Apart from carrying the most powerful CPU and GPU combos, these two smartphones also got a new and improved NPU working under their hood. Oppo is calling it as MariSillicon X.

Until now, we only heard about the big fat CPUs and GPUs. Almost every smartphone has got them fitted inside. They are considered the heart of mobile phones. Almost every performance aspect of the smartphone is judged based upon them. However, these two left some gaps while covering some aspects of a smartphone. The camera is one such aspect and this is where MariSilicon X fill the gap left behind by CPU and GPU. Unlike Snapdragon or Adreno, MariSilicon X is an NPU.

What is NPU?​

NPU stands for Neural Processing Unit. It is built into the mobile processor to utilize advanced neural networks and provide new levels of visual intelligence. It helps to boost up the AI features in your camera. Up until now, the AI features working in your camera depending upon the capability of your processor. This, in turn, has created some boundaries to fully unleash the performance of AI since the processor has to take care of many things in mobile. However, this situation is now going to change with the introduction of a separate processing unit for it which is called the NPU.

MariSilicon X is an NPU introduced by Oppo. Brands like Huawei and Oppo have started adding these separate NPU units to boost up the AI processing in their mobile. Instead of letting the CPU carrying out the AI computing tasks, the NPU is assigned to do the tasks and it does it better and faster.

OPPO unveiled its first self-designed cutting-edge imaging NPU – MariSilicon X – at OPPO INNO DAY 2021. This chipset is known to give a major boost to mobile photography and image processing. Here’s how it can make the whole process better and if not remarkable.

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MariSilicon X: Ultra HDR will replace HDR​

Ever wonder when will you get to see the next big thing in HDR photography? Well, now it’s happening. With the introduction of the new MariSilicon X, we are not going to talk about HDR in the future, we will leap and go towards Ultra HDR.

MariSilicon X is equipped with a powerful ISP that enables images to be captured with an incredible 20bit 120db dynamic range. The process is to quote “4x greater than that of Find X3 Pro”. It delivers the images a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 between the brightest and darkest areas of the image, better keeping the details and images lifelike. Oppo demonstrated this feature while unveiling the X5 pro and the results at just pretty awesome.

MariSilicon X: RAW Image Processing on Real-Time​

Processing the RAW filetype require a lot of throughput and processing power which might take a serious toll on a mobile processor. Therefore, brands don’t usually opt-in for RAW image processing on their cameras. However, with the introduction of MariSilicon X, Oppo will finally let you opt-in for RAW image processing.

MariSilicon X revolutionary channeling the imaging pipeline to directly perform 4K AI processing in real-time. It can perform 20bit HDR fusion in the RAW domain closing in at the pixel level. By doing that, MariSilicon X can achieve an 8dB signal-to-noise ratio for images, opening up a whole new world for computational photography.

MariSilicon X: 4K Night Video Using AI​

Until now, we have only witnessed night photography. For decades, light failure has become the only nightmare for mobile photography. I remember using the line ” When the light fails, the camera fails” too often in my reviews. This is the one thing that is stopping mobile photography to take over the SLRs and DSLRs.

This is going to change with MariSilicon X. Oppo has finally found a way to make night photography more fun than it used to be. Oppo has introduced a new feature called AI noise reduction. It works by intelligently reducing the noise through AI while capturing photos in low-light conditions.

The AI Noise Reduction algorithms are said to reduce noise at a greater range and can create clearer and sharper videos. It also features a greater dynamic range and better colour reproduction, allowing each frame to look just as rich and defined as a still photo. It is the first time that 4K AI HDR Night Video capturing is made possible on Android phones.

MariSilicon X: 6nm construction makes it blazing fast​

MariSilicon X was designed on 6nm process technology and built upon stacking multiple memory tiers. The multi-tier memory architectures help the chip deliver incredible performance with exceptional power efficiency. The cutting edge NPU can deliver an incredible 18 trillion operations per second (TOPS). The base Snapdragon 870 could perform 17 trillion operations per second (TOPS) which means MariSilicon X is more powerful than most of the flagship phones available right now.

MariSilicon X is equipped with a groundbreaking dedicated tera-bps memory subsystem. It allows the NPU to make full use of the computing power without being restricted by memory throughout. This in turn significantly reduces the time needed to copy data to and fro between storage and processing units. In laymen’s terms, this NPU can do trillions of operations without comprising on several aspects.

Final Words​

With the introduction of the new MariSilicon X, Oppo has started a revolution in mobile photography. The term just took a quantum leap due to it. Since mobile photography is a big thing, there might be a chance that every major brand out there might join this revolution. If all goes well, we might see the advent of NPU alongside the CPU & GPU.

Above all, this might finally lead to a future where professional photographers might get a chance to finally ditch the SLRs and DSLRs just to take a good shot.

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