WAILEA, Hawaii—Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 processor uses AI and a new image signal processor to analyze and improve your photos and videos. Whether it's solving the low-light photo problem or sharpening up your blurry shots, it's going to make anything you shoot clearer. Here are some of the coolest features we saw in Qualcomm's new chipset, which will be coming to flagship Android phones in 2019.
Bokeh Video
The Snapdragon 855's image signal processor lets you do portrait mode 4K video at up to 60 frames per second. Of course, that's a relatively simple application of depth sensing. How about something more striking?
Green Screen
That's not the background this guy was shot with. The computer vision and AI capabilities in the 855 can identify subjects in the foreground and replace the background—with effects, or with entirely different backgrounds.
Burst Shot
The new HEIF file format helps deal with new photo experiences. It lets you combine all those burst shots into one file, combine multiple angles into one file, or include depth information in your file so you can change portrait mode settings after the fact.
Super Night
Look for features like the Pixel 3's striking Night Sight mode to come to many more phones since Snapdragon's AI processor helps make images brighter and clearer without blowing them out.
Super Resolution
The Super Resolution feature combines eight images into one sharper image, making blurry text suddenly readable.
Nalbi's Refocus
Nalbi's Refocus lets you apply portrait mode to any photo—even JPGs you find on the internet.
What the 855 Will Bring to Flagship Phones
Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 has faster everything—CPU, GPU, LTE and 5G—and an image-processing component that could bring the Pixel 3's spectacular computing-driven camera capabilities to a wider range of phones. Check out this deep-dive for more.