Smartphone cameras are constantly evolving and some models even challenge professional cameras and are often used by content creators. While they are not yet as successful as digital SLRs, their ease of use and portability sets them apart. And now Qualcomm has signed a deal that will make smartphone cameras even better.

Camera chip startup Prophesee and Qualcomm sign multi-year deal

Camera chip startup Prophesee has announced a multi-year deal with Qualcomm. The companies will jointly develop smartphone technology using Prophesee’s camera chips. Based on the human eye process, innovative chips only change changes in the scene, such as movement or light, rather than the entire image frame. This unique feature allows Prophesee’s camera chips to run faster and require less processing power, making them ideal for use on smartphones.

Luca Verre, co-founder and CEO of Prophesee, explained that camera chips only work with pixels that send information to the processor when there is a change. Pixels that do not detect changes remain silent. The latest Prophesee chips have a million pixels. Qualcomm plans to use the Prophesee plug-in chip with traditional camera chips in a smartphone project that will be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Production of the Prophesee chip will be transferred to Sony Group Corp. “We’re really bringing together two key players in the space,” Verre said, referring to both Qualcomm and Sony, without disclosing the financial terms of the deal. Mass production of the chips is planned to be integrated into phones next year.

According to the announcement, Prophesee’s plug-in chip will help fix some blurry images in smartphone camera systems. The chips are expected to improve the user experience by improving image quality and drive innovative smartphone technology. However, we will see in time what kind of results this partnership will yield.