OnePlus 8 Pro “X-Ray” colour filter in the camera will be disabled in a future update

Updated on 20-May-2020
HIGHLIGHTS

The OnePlus 8 Pro’s colour camera was found being able to see through certain objects like plastic and very thin cloth.

OnePlus has taken to Weibo to say that they are disabling the feature in a future update.

The feature will return once the issue is fixed.

Recently, it was reported that the OnePlus 8 Pro’s colour camera feature could see through some plastic objects and some clothes as well. The internet dubbed this as the camera’s X-Ray ability and it appears to work when you photograph black objects made of very thin plastic or even clothes. The resulting image appears to show what's underneath, however, it’s not a true X-Ray effect going on here. The infra-red sensor on the OnePlus 8 Pro seems to be picking up IR radiation from the underside layer of thin materials. OnePlus has now taken to the Chinese social networking website, Weibo to say that the colour camera feature will be disabled in a future update and will return once the issue has been fixed. Since the Weibo post is in Chinese, we are relying on the Android Police report of the same. 

So, why is the X-Ray like see-through happening on certain materials? Well, the IR sensor is possibly picking up on the infrared radiation that bounces off practically everything in this world (also referred to as heat radiation). When the materials used are very thin (like a T-shirt), the infrared radiation is able to travel through it, registering itself on an IR camera with ease. This is the basic principle of how thermal cameras work and are able to see through smoke in the case of a fire. This new discovery could spell potential privacy and security issues. While it may not be possible for OnePlus to fix this issue at a hardware level, they might be able to fix it through a software update that limits the IR sensor from picking up specific wavelengths of the infrared spectrum. You can read more about it here

In other OnePlus news, It looks like the OnePlus true wireless earbuds could launch soon. There is no exact date or launch window, but it is speculated the OnePlus true wireless earbuds could launch alongside the rumoured OnePlus Z smartphone. Both are speculated to be unveiled in June. You can read more about it here

The OnePlus 8 is all set to go on sale in India at the end of May and you can read all about that here.

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