Sharp Boasts Phones That Play Slo-Mo At 2100 Fps

Apple's iPhone 5s popularized the slow motion camera effect previously only available on digital cameras. Since then, smartphone makers have tried to add similar capabilities in their flagships, allowing users to shoot video in very high frame rates in order to play them back in a slower pace. Sharp, however, is doing things a bit differently. In addition to recording high frame rate videos, it uses image processing in order to bump up the slo-mo quality, resulting in an almost unbelievable 2,100 fps frame rate.

Alone, some of Sharp's newest AQUOS smartphones can record video at 210 fps when set to FWVGA resolution (854 x 480 pixels) or 120 fps in Full HD mode. That is quite on par with the likes of the iPhones, recording video at twice the normal speed. When played back, this results in that popular slow motion effect.

Sharp is throwing in another element into the mix, something called frame compensation technology. What it does is that it duplicate each frame in the video up to 10 times, thereby inflating the original number of frames used when recording. This results in 2,100 fps rates for FWVGA and 1,200 fps for FHD.

It might sound a bit like a cheat, but the results are still astounding. More frames translate to smoother effects, emulating the abilities of professional digital cameras that can record videos in thousands of frames per second, in contrast to the hundreds that smartphones can reach.

This frame compensation technology has been demonstrated on Sharp's newest smartphones, the AQUOS Zeta, AQUOS Xx and AQUOS Seriem. All three are set to launch in Japan in the coming weeks, though there is no news yet if any one of those will reach other markets.

VIA: PCWorld