(Left) Original photo, (Right) Brilliant shades and colors shine through when using Real-time semantic segmentation to capture photos (Source: Qualcomm)
Aside from getting hardware-based ray tracing capabilities, the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip promises to improve computational photography on upcoming devices. It's packing in what Qualcomm describes as its most advanced artificial intelligence AI engine driven by its upgraded Hexagon Processor. This combo enables phones to perform 4.35 times better when it comes to AI features. It's also the first Qualcomm mobile chip to support INT4, an AI precision format with a 60% performance-to-watt improvement for sustained AI inferencing.
What matters most when it comes to mobile photography is what Qualcomm labels as Snapdragon Sight. This feature will "define a new era of professional quality camera experiences" with its first Cognitive Image Signal Processor (ISP). It allows the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to automatically enhance photos and videos in real time through semantic segmentation. This process uses an AI neural network to make the camera contextually aware of faces, facial features, clothes, skies, hair, and more, so each detail gets customized professional image tuning in real time.
The new processor also now supports new image sensors, including Sony's first sensor with a quad digital overlay HDR tech and Samsung's ISOCELL HP3 and its gigantic 200-megapixel sensor. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will also be the first Qualcomm chip to support the AV1 codec, allowing for playback of up to 8K HDR at 60 frames per second.
We can expect devices carrying the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to be announced starting at the end of the year. Samsung wasn't specifically named, but it has been rumoured that the company plans to use Snapdragon chipsets for its upcoming Galaxy S23. If the reports are accurate, we'll probably see the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powering that series.