Sharper, clearer phone graphics? Meet Snapdragon 805 (pictures)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 chipset is the next big thing for top-tier smartphones and tablets, bringing higher-resolution everything to the screen, gaming, and photos. Here, a 4K resolution tablet is mirrored onto a 65-inch TV. In person, the right side of the screen (4K resolution) shows much more detail than the 1080p side on the left.

Phones and tablets using this chip could do some neat things with photography, like let you focus in five different areas of the screen after-the-fact.

This heat map actually segments the seashell image into five zones. Tap on any area within each zone to reset the focus.

Another post-processing trick lets you select the subject you want to highlight (green) from the background (red.) You can use broad strokes, so you won't have to worry about leaving a limb behind.

After that, you can play around with background color...

...grayscale...

...and other wacky filters. You'll also be able to apply different focus points here.

Graphics in the Adreno 420 GPU that pairs with the 805 processor ratchets up the detail in graphics as well, as seen on this animated image of a hornet. On the left, you see the insect, and on the right, you see the cramped polygons that signal the increased level of detail.

4K resolution means that fine lines, text, and characters appear much sharper and easier to read.

In person, the 4K tablet on the left made it much easier to read the finely printed menu. However, the tablet on the right is already at a disadvantage for pixel density, since the screen is both larger and has a lower display resolution.