The OnePlus 8 Pro was launched a month ago and while the Indian users still wait for the device to start shipping, there's alredy some interesting buzz around it. The OnePlus 8 Pro’s camera is delivering some unintended results. Reports are claiming that under the right conditions, the OnePlus 8 Pro’s new camera is capable of seeing through objects, turning it into an X-Ray camera of sorts. This happens when you use the Photocom filter on the OnePlus 8 Pro camera, and only works very selectively. While the hype around this new discovery is pretty high.
The effect being dubbed as “X-Ray” appears to work when you photograph black objects made of very thin plastic or even clothes. The resulting image appears to show whats 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. BenGeskin was the first to report this effect, however, since then, many people have also tried it out and Unbox Therapy even published a video showing an X-Ray like image of an Apple TV, Switch remote and even a black T-Shirt.
The Verge reports that while the effect is very real, it is extremely limited and only works with materials so thin that they might as well be see-through under the right lighting conditions anyway.
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 radioation is able to travel throught 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.
The OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro will go on sale in India on May 29, and will be available through both Amazon and OnePlus India's own website.