Oppo's new MariSilicon X NPU will take the Find X series image quality to the next level

Oppo just announced its MariSilicon NPU based on the 6nm manufacturing process. Its main goal is to improve the quality of photos and videos as well as further expand the feature set of its cameras. The first phones to adopt it is going to be the next-generation Find X series due to be announced in Q1 2022.

The MariSilicon X has an ISP so Oppo won't be relying on the ISP found in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It supports 20-bit, 120db dynamic range in images, real-time RAW processing in 4K videos. Using the NPU, an AI can apply different algorithms for noise reduction, better color reproduction, HDR, improved detail, dynamic range, etc.

The ISP can harness the full potential of Oppo's RGBW sensor as it supports the separation of the white channel from the RGB.

The NPU chip is capable of some serious number crunching, when it comes to AI-related tasks, of course. It can do 18 trillion operations per second (TOPS) and it's also efficient in doing so, mainly thanks to the dedicated memory.

Normally, the NPU would rely on the system memory but that slows down the processing time and wastes energy, so Oppo mitigates that with dedicated memory capable of 8.5 GB/s data transfers.

As we already mentioned, the MariSilicon X will arrive sometime at the beginning of next year with the next Find X phones promising "the most advanced and powerful imaging experience ever".