New Sensor Promises To Bring ‘true Colour To Smartphone Photos

In the highly competitive smartphone market, photography can be a major battleground. Apart from the longing for better battery life, storage and handling, camera quality is always a major factor in choosing a phone .

At CES 2023, Belgian startup Spectricity introduced a new entrant to the competition, the S1 chip.

Spectricity says the S1 is the first mass-produced spectral sensor for mobile devices that is truly miniature, and the company aims to dominate the industry. Two years from now, Spectricity boldly predicts that the sensor will be inside every smartphone.

The silver coating comes from the special purpose of measuring "true color" on a smartphone. According to Spectricty, it's something even the best smartphones can't do.

The problem stems from a flaw in the white balance software used to remove unrealistic hues. Our natural visual system does this very well. When we see a white wall in sunlight or fluorescent light, our brain adjusts the color temperature so that both scenes appear white. Smartphones try to do the same, but the results are often disappointing.

"None of these cameras can recognize true colors.

The automatic white balance algorithm is limited to the three RGB color channels of red, green and blue, and strives to correct abnormal color temperatures. As a result, images taken under an incandescent lamp may appear more orange than under sunlight, and shadow areas may appear bluer.

"Despite the massive processing power behind these cameras, no one can recognize true colors," Spectricity CEO Vincent Moore told TNW.

To overcome this problem, the S1 sensor uses additional filters to analyze the spectral signature of the object. After detecting the light source in the image, the system performs color correction.

The Spectrum shows the influence of TNW in a live show. Images produced by the S1 in different lighting conditions were compared to images captured by high-end smartphone cameras.

While the demo results weren't always replicated in reality, the colors produced by the S1 were more consistent in different lighting.

"With our solution, you can get the same color in any lighting condition," said Spectricity application engineer Michael Jacobs.

The ambition of the sensors goes beyond the best photos. With the S1 capable of capturing video at video recording speeds in the visible and near-infrared, the imaging device can enhance a wide range of mobile applications. Spectricity plans to use the sensor for remote cosmetics, e-commerce, identity verification, skin health analysis and even smart gardens.

A key component of this plan is improved skin tone rendering on the S1. Smartphone cameras are notoriously bad at capturing dark skin, which limits image depth. It also blocks all apps that use skin analysis, from skin cancer detection to virtual makeup.

The S1 brightener for dark skin can extend the range of benefits.

The smartphone giant also makes a lot of money on color accuracy, but Specriticity says they still can't compete with the S1's sensor. This belief comes from a long and narrow scientific background.

Spectricity was created as a research laboratory of the Interuniversity Center for Microelectronics ( IMEC), Nanoelectronics and Digital Technology. These connections have helped the startup collect 19 patents and 66 active applications, as well as 13 PhDs in its team.

To commercialize the innovation, Spectricity has set up a mass production line at the X-FAB foundry, which is now ready for mass production.

The S1 is being evaluated by major smartphone manufacturers. With the global decline in mobile device sales , Spectricity is betting that sensors give it an unlikely advantage.