OnePlus 8 Pro's color filter camera able to see through clothes, solid objects

14 May 2020

First spotted by XDA-Developers' Max Weinbach, the OnePlus 8 Pro can see through certain surfaces thanks to its custom 5MP sensor that lacks the usual color and IR filters to produce artistic images. And it seems that it can do so with certain types of clothes too.

In a short investigation done by AndroidPIT, the fourth camera on the back of the OnePlus 8 Pro can see through some surfaces if the right conditions are met. How? Well, standard cameras that we use have color filters, because sensors would naturally only detect the amount of light that hits them rather than colors and also have an IR filter to block light that's outside the visible spectrum. OnePlus, on the other hand, decided to remove both of them making a camera sensitive to IR light.

And since materials absorb light depending on the wavelength, some objects may appear transparent when you point the OnePlus 8 Pro's camera at them. Even if they are not transparent to the naked eye. Pretty much the same way the human body is transparent to X-rays. So if you have enough sunlight (infrared light) shining onto the object and, of course, the material is right, it would appear transparent.

In any case, it's highly unlikely that you can see through clothes of people walking on the street. Otherwise this cool effect might have turned into a proper privacy nightmare.

Via 1, 2