Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC offers unprecedented capabilities. — Photography Courtesy of Qualcomm/AFP Relaxnews
A new generation of smartphone chips will hit the market in 2023, promising new uses, such as filming video in 8K HDR quality at 60 frames per second. But is it really all that useful?
The arrival of Qualcomm's newest system-on-chip (SoC), called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, is set to change the game once again. While there are already smartphones that can shoot video in 8K resolution, this new-generation chipset will boost performance, ramping up video quality to 8K60p HDR. In other words, it will be possible to shoot in ultra-high definition, with a wide range of vibrant colors. This performance may be of particular interest to professionals, who will be able to shoot content in very high quality with a simple smartphone, with no need for heavy equipment, even if it means reworking the image afterwards to obtain optimal 4K sequences.
Currently, 8K is the highest available image resolution, at 7680x4320 pixels, or a total of more than 33 million pixels. That's more than four times the resolution of 4K! While filming in 8K is already quite an achievement, you'll need to have the right accompanying hardware to be able to fully enjoy these videos. You'd need a compatible television set, for example, and there aren't that many of those on the market right now. This can be explained by the fact that ultra-high definition content is still relatively rare, and by the fact that viewing lower quality images is not necessarily flattering on such screens.
In general, this new Qualcomm chip will boost the performance of future smartphones, with graphics rendering that promises to be 25% faster than the current Soc (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1), delivering unparalleled realism, especially for video games content. The integrated processor should also quadruple the performance of artificial intelligence. Finally, this new SoC will evidently be compatible with the latest WiFi (7) and Bluetooth (5.3) standards.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is expected to be adopted by the end of 2022 by brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus and Sony. – AFP Relaxnews
