NASA Liquid Lens Space Telescope Could be 100 Times the Size of Webb

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Liquid lenses are a thing now, could be used in next space telescope

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Xiaomi MIX 4 features under-display camera, but no liquid lenses

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The First Smartphone to Use a Liquid Lens is the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold

On March 25, Xiaomi teased that it would announce a new smartphone that used a liquid lens, and that device has finally been revealed. The Mi Mix Fold has been announced for a China-only release and features two other high-megapixel cameras in addition to the liquid lens camera.

Xiaomi has typically used the "Mix" line to test new product ideas and is this time trying out its hand with a folding phone akin to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and the Huawei Mate X2. As Engadget reports, the Mi Mix Fold features an 8.01-inch 2,480 x 1,860 folding panel for its interior screen with a smaller, narrower 6.52-inch AMOLED 2,520 x 840 resolution outer-facing screen. The outer screen has been quoted by Huawei as being tested to last for at least a million folds, with the hinge actually lasting for significantly less time at 200,000 bends.

Folding phones have been getting better, but most manufacturers are still working out the kinks. So while it's not entirely surprising to see a folding phone from Xiaomi and the concept is still being proven, it's certainly not the most interesting feature of the Mi Mix Fold.

That would actually be the 8-megapixel "bionic" camera that uses a liquid lens powered by a motor that uses precision manipulation on that packet of fluid to switch between a 3x telephoto zoom (up to 30x hybrid digital and optical zoom) and a macro mode that allows for focus down to just 3 centimeters away. The liquid lens works in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees to 60 degrees Celcius (-40 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit), so you don't have to worry about the camera failing in any normal living conditions.

Either due to limitations with liquid lens technology or with how Xiaomi felt with regards to its image quality, the Mi Mix Fold's liquid camera is clearly not designed to be the main image capture method for users, as the company paired it with a 108-megapixel main camera (the Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor) and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide. For now, Xiaomi is probably satisfied with being able to call itself the first to integrate the technology rather than going all-in on making it a truly revolutionary camera. But that's speculation of course since sample images taken with the liquid lens camera weren't provided and the Mi Mix Fold is only available in China for now.

Still, it's good to see companies experimenting with new image capture methods in handheld devices. Even if this liquid lens feels like more marketing hype than it actually being a revolutionary technological development, Xiaomi should still be praised for giving it a shot.

#mobile #news #liquidlens #mimix #mimixfold #smartphonecamera #smartphonephotography #xiaomi #xiaomimimix #xiaomimimixfold

Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Will Be the First Smartphone to Use a Liquid Lens

Xiaomi, one of the leading global smartphone manufacturers, has teased an upcoming tech that will be found in the forthcoming Mi Mix device: a liquid lens. It's the first of its kind in a smartphone and can apparently change focus and focal length just by altering the shape of the liquid element.

DPReview reports that according to some sources, the liquid lens will allow the manufacturer to replace the common multi-camera arrays found on pretty much all smartphones with a single camera thanks to its ability to change focus point and focal length more easily via that liquid element.

The concept of a liquid lens isn't new, but it isn't something that has ever been integrated into a consumer smartphone. According to Edmund Optics, a liquid lens can overcome depth of field limitations by allowing the focus to be electronically adjusted with no mechanical movement. The typical ways of adjusting focus points (moving motorized elements or changing f-numbers to increase the depth of field) can instead be replaced without compromising image quality or requiring larger lenses.

Xiaomi's mysterious MIX phone will use liquid lens for the first time in the world pic.twitter.com/73ob6uBsyn

-- Ice universe (@UniverseIce) March 25, 2021

Liquid lenses can be found in some industrial applications where traditional moving-parts optics would wear out too quickly.

"Like traditional optical lenses made from glass, liquid lenses are single optical elements but are composed of an optical liquid material that can change its shape," Edmond Optics explains. "The focal length of a glass lens is dependent on the material it is made from and its radius of curvature. The same basic principle applies to liquid lenses, though liquid lenses are unique in that their focal length is alterable by changing the radius of curvature. This change in radius is electronically controlled and rapidly changed on the order of milliseconds. Manufacturers use electrowetting, shape-changing polymers, and acusto-optical tuning methods to control the liquid lens's radius of curvature and refractive index."

Xiaomi has a pretty good reputation when it comes to smartphone camera hardware, but like in the case of the Mi 11, the software can hold it back. Hopefully, the liquid lens implementation on a Mi Mix phone manages to bridge this gap a bit better.

According to The Verge, using bleeding-edge technology is kind of a perfect fit for the Mi Mix line. The Mi Mix 3 in 2018 was the first to offer a mechanically sliding selfie camera, while the Mi Mix Alpha from the following year had a screen that wrapped around nearly the entire device. In that company, a liquid lens camera fits right in.

#mobile #news #liquidlens #mimix #smartphonecamera #smartphonephotography #xiaomi #xiaomimimix

Xiaomi teases new Mi MIX – the world’s first smartphone with a liquid lens

#news #liquidlens #smartphonephotography #smartphonevideo #smartphones #teaser #xiaomi

Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Will Be the First Smartphone to Use a Liquid Lens

Xiaomi, one of the leading global smartphone manufacturers, has teased an upcoming tech that will be found in the forthcoming Mi Mix device: a liquid lens. It's the first of its kind in a smartphone and can apparently change focus and focal length just by altering the shape of the liquid element.

DPReview reports that according to some sources, the liquid lens will allow the manufacturer to replace the common multi-camera arrays found on pretty much all smartphones with a single camera thanks to its ability to change focus point and focal length more easily via that liquid element.

The concept of a liquid lens isn't new, but it isn't something that has ever been integrated into a consumer smartphone. According to Edmund Optics, a liquid lens can overcome depth of field limitations by allowing the focus to be electronically adjusted with no mechanical movement. The typical ways of adjusting focus points (moving motorized elements or changing f-numbers to increase the depth of field) can instead be replaced without compromising image quality or requiring larger lenses.

Xiaomi's mysterious MIX phone will use liquid lens for the first time in the world pic.twitter.com/73ob6uBsyn

-- Ice universe (@UniverseIce) March 25, 2021

Liquid lenses can be found in some industrial applications where traditional moving-parts optics would wear out too quickly.

"Like traditional optical lenses made from glass, liquid lenses are single optical elements but are composed of an optical liquid material that can change its shape," Edmond Optics explains. "The focal length of a glass lens is dependent on the material it is made from and its radius of curvature. The same basic principle applies to liquid lenses, though liquid lenses are unique in that their focal length is alterable by changing the radius of curvature. This change in radius is electronically controlled and rapidly changed on the order of milliseconds. Manufacturers use electrowetting, shape-changing polymers, and acusto-optical tuning methods to control the liquid lens's radius of curvature and refractive index."

Xiaomi has a pretty good reputation when it comes to smartphone camera hardware, but like in the case of the Mi 11, the software can hold it back. Hopefully, the liquid lens implementation on a Mi Mix phone manages to bridge this gap a bit better.

According to The Verge, using bleeding-edge technology is kind of a perfect fit for the Mi Mix line. The Mi Mix 3 in 2018 was the first to offer a mechanically sliding selfie camera, while the Mi Mix Alpha from the following year had a screen that wrapped around nearly the entire device. In that company, a liquid lens camera fits right in.

#mobile #news #liquidlens #mimix #smartphonecamera #smartphonephotography #xiaomi #xiaomimimix

Xiaomi teases new Mi MIX – the world’s first smartphone with a liquid lens

#news #liquidlens #smartphonephotography #smartphonevideo #smartphones #teaser #xiaomi

Xiaomi teases new Mi MIX – the world’s first smartphone with a liquid lens

#news #liquidlens #smartphonephotography #smartphonevideo #smartphones #teaser #xiaomi posted by socialhome_feeder