DxOMark, a publication that made a name for analyzing sensors and photographic lenses, released on Thursday (18) the analysis of the front camera of the Axon 20 5G, from Chinese ZTE, the first smartphone launched commercially with a front camera under the screen. For analysis, the publication’s engineers captured more than 1,500 test images and more than two hours of internal and external video.
Although the proposal of the device is innovative, the score given by DxOMark was not good: the ZTE Axon 20 5G obtained only 26 points, which places it as the second worst ranking in the evaluator’s ranking, above only a popular smartphone manufactured by Indian Intex in 2019.
While recognizing that the Axon 20 5G’s front camera exposure and focus are quite stable, DxOMark testers claim that the camera under the screen has a number of image quality problems. Photos have a lot of noise, unnatural skin tones, low dynamic range and color reflection problems.
With regard specifically to the portrait mode, DxOMark detected numerous flaws in depth and poor detail. The videos recorded with the front camera showed imperfections similar to those of the photos, and the clips showed low stabilization, ghosts and noticeable distortions.
What is the problem with the cameras under the display?
The assessment by DxOMark revealed that the front cameras below the screen receive less light from their sensor when compared to conventional cameras. This is because the light beam must pass between the tiny gaps in the screen. The solution adopted by ZTE was to make a “square” on the display with a lower resolution, as if it were a fog.
But the end result indicated that ZTE still has a long way to go in technology in selfie cameras of the kind.
