A leaked retail box image suggests Realme may be bringing back periscope camera tech 📸 for the 16 Pro+ after skipping it on the 15 series. The move could signal a shift toward premium photography features, though specs and pricing remain unclear. Read the article to see what this might mean for Realme's flagship strategy ⬇️
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Sony Xperia 1 VI Now Has An Online Launch On 15 May #androidphones #launch #mobile #mobilephones #official #periscopecamera #phones #sony #teaser #xperia1vi
https://www.lowyat.net/2024/322240/sony-xperia-1-vi-online-launch-15-may/
OnePlus 12 Renders Leak Online; Looks To Feature Periscope Camera #androidphones #leak #mobile #mobilephones #oneplus12 #onleaks #periscopecamera #phones #render #rumours&leaks
https://www.lowyat.net/2023/303666/oneplus-12-renders-leak-online/
Apple’s Periscope Lens Plans Stymied by Samsung Patent: Report
Apple is reportedly hoping to integrate a periscope camera lens system into its iPhones as soon as 2023, but a new report out of Korea alleges that the Silicon Valley giant may have run up against a problem: a Samsung patent.
As some background, “periscope” is the term used to describe a “folded” lens system that can squeeze greater zoom capabilities into the tiny camera arrays found in smartphones by redirecting light sideways through the body of the device via a sequence of lenses and mirrors or prisms. The design is deemed "periscope" because it mimics how a submarine periscope looks and works.
As PetaPixel has reported in the past, such technology is behind the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom, which is considerably more than the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s 2.5x zoom.
Apple has filed multiple patents for "folded" lens type periscope camera designs in the past, including one that was granted as recently as July and another from August that integrates optical image stabilization.
There are varying ways to construct a periscope lens especially when it comes to how a company moves the lens's barrel. According to a report from The Elec, Apple wants to use a ball actuator to move the lens barrel, which is in contrast to the spring actuator that it currently uses on its iPhones. Unfortunately for Apple, Samsung -- who has a technical lead on the technology over Apple -- holds that patent.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics
The Elec explains that Apple was planning to supply folded zoom camera modules from a long-time supplier for the company, LG InnoTek, which procured the ball actuators from Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
If Cupertino have chosen this route, it would have replaced its actuator partners Alps Electric and Mitsumi Electric with Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
Meanwhile, Apple reviewed Jahwa Electronics’ optical image stabilization module factory during the first half of the year.
OIS are conventionally integrated with autofocus actuator to form one module. The integrated module is Jahwa’s main product. Combining it with an image sensor and a board completes a camera module.
However, Jahwa co-developed the OIS technology with Samsung and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, raising concerns that it may not be able to supply them to Apple.
Faced with this issue, Apple will either have to change its entire design to avoid using the patented technology or will have to pay Samsung a fee to license the rights to the patent. Both are of course options for the tech giant, but it is likely not a choice the company was expecting to have to make.
Image credits: Header image via Oppo
#mobile #news #technology #apple #appleiphone #applepatent #iphone #iphoneperiscopecamera #patents #periscopecamera #periscopelens #samsung #samsungpatent #smartphonecameras #smartphones
Apple Has Designed a ‘Folded’ Camera With Optical Image Stabilization
Apple has been beaten to the periscope "folded" camera punch by pretty much every other smartphone manufacturer, but it continues to design and patent new takes on the now-commonplace tech. It was granted a patent for a new design that includes folded optics and "lens shifting" capabilities.
Folded optics, or more commonly known as periscope cameras, are a design that allows smartphones to gain considerably more optical zoom than a typical lens design by placing the lens array parallel to the long edge of a smartphone body and bending the transmission of light to the sensor by using one or more prisms. The design has been used by Samsung, Huawei, and others to make smartphone cameras that sport massive optical zooming capabilities compared to what Apple offers.
This latest patent was filed in January of 2019 but finally granted and published on August 17 of this year, as noted by Patently Apple.
This design describes a camera with "folded" optics and lens shifting capabilities that can include one or more lens elements, prims, and in some cases a voice coil motor, autofocus motors, and optical image stabilization (OIS) systems. Some of the designs in the patent also include position sensors with respect to autofocus or optical image stabilization movement.
Of particular note is this schematic shown in figure 13A of the patent (below) which shows a folded optics arrangement that uses two prisms and an example of how an actuator would shift the lens group along multiple axes. Basically, it shows how Apple might integrate optical image stabilization into a periscope design.
The front element of the camera is located at the upper left side of the figure, while the sensor is pointed upwards and located on the bottom right. The optical arrangement can be seen in the middle and is capable of compensating for movement. Two prisms can be seen redirecting the light to create the "folded" camera system.
This patent expands upon periscope technology that Apple patented earlier this year that does not have any optical stabilization capability. Neither do two other patents filed by Apple at two other points in 2021.
While experts don't expect Apple to actually introduce a periscope camera into its iPhone line until at least 2023, the company still seems pretty active in patenting designs for the technology. It's unclear which one of these patents -- or a combination of patents -- will eventually make it into an iPhone, but those who wish that their iPhones had better optical zoom than just the 5x zoom available on the iPhone 12 Pro Max probably don't think that day can come soon enough.
Apple's full patent can be read on the United States Patent Office's website.
#mobile #news #technology #apple #appleiphone #applepatent #design #foldedoptics #iphone #iphone12promax #iphoneperiscopecamera #patent #periscopecamera #smartphonecamera #smartphones
Apple Granted ‘Periscope’ Compact Zoom Lens Patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for a compact camera that uses a set of prisms to "fold" light and compress the amount of space needed for a telephoto lens. This type of lens is typically referred to as a "periscope" lens in smartphones.
As some background, “periscope” is the term used to describe a “folded” lens system that can squeeze greater zoom capabilities into the tiny camera arrays found in smartphones by redirecting light sideways through the body of the device via a sequence of lenses and mirrors or prisms. The concept has been used in other smartphones not made by Apple, like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom.
Earlier this year, famed Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was at least two years from implementing the technology in its devices, meaning it is highly likely that Apple users will be stuck with low-powered two to three times optical zoom for the next couple of years. Apple has filed multiple patents for a periscope-like lens system in the past, and today's latest is just another added to the stack. One of its patents was filed back in 2015, and yet no iPhone has yet to use the tech.
The patent, reported by Patently Apple and spotted by DPReview, describes a "folded" camera lens that may be used in small form factor cameras, like smartphones. It uses two light folding elements -- in this case, prisms -- and an independent lens system ocated beetween them that includes an aperture stop and lens elements with refactive power mounted in a lens barrel.
The prisms "fold" the optical axis for the camera and reduce the z-height of the system. Inside the stack are one or more refractive lens elements mounted in a lens barrel.
The stages by which the periscope system works.
Somewhat disappointingly, Patently Apple reports that this particular patent only describes an optical zoom of 3x, which isn't much more than the 2.5x optical zoom found on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Considering that periscope camera systems are capable of considerably more zoom compressed into a tight space -- as mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra achieves 10x optical zoom with its periscope camera -- 3x zoom feels far short of what consumers would likely expect out of a periscope system in an Apple device. It's one thing to be late to the game -- which Apple already is -- but another to be late as well as worse.
Whatever the case, if Kuo is to be believed, this patent along with the other periscope designs Apple has patented thus far won't see use in a camera system until at least 2023.
#mobile #news #technology #2021 #apple #appleiphone #applepatent #iphone #iphone12 #iphone12pro #iphone12s #patents #periscope #periscopecamera #periscopelens
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra Features a Truly Gigantic Camera Bump
Xiaomi has announced the Mi 11 Ultra, a smartphone that takes the original Mi 11 that already boasted pretty great camera performance and racks it up to another level with a giant camera bump that features a 50MP wide, a 48MP ultra-wide, a 48MP telephoto, and a tiny OLED display.
The first noticeable thing about the Mi 11 Ultra is the absolutely enormous camera bump; compared to the thinness of the whole device, it's noticeably huge and what it houses is a definite upgrade over the standard Mi 11.
That bump houses those three cameras. First is the main wide-angle camera which houses a 1/1.12-inch 50-megapixel GN2 sensor equipped with an f/1.95 aperture lens. The GN2 was announced by Samsung earlier this year and features what the company calls Dual Pixel Pro autofocus, which it promises offers a dramatic improvement in autofocus performance.
The size of the sensor itself is dramatic: it's not far from a 1-inch sensor:
Xiaomi uses that GN2 sensor to claim the Mi 11 Ultra is capable of fast, "laser-sharp" autofocus. That main sensor also boasts dual native ISO and staggered HDR. In addition to the main camera, which is designated as a "wide" camera (85-degree field of view), Xiaomi also equipped the Mi 11 Ultra with a 48-megapixel ultra-wide and a 48-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto. Periscope technology allows for a much more powerful optical zoom and is a technology that Apple is rumored to be at least a couple of years away from implementing in its own devices. You can read more about periscope cameras here.
The 48-megapixel 1/2.0-inch sized ultra-wide has a 128-degree field of view and an f/2.2 lens. The 48-megapixel periscope camera Is the same 1/2.0-inch sensor size, but at f/4.1. It supports optical image stabilization and phase-detection autofocus, 5x optical zoom, 10X "hybrid zoom," and 120x digital zoom. All three cameras support 8K video recording and Night Mode, and the Mi 11 Ultra can also record
That giant camera bump not only houses the three aforementioned cameras, but also a dedicated OLED that can be used as an always-on display (to display time and date, for example), notification bar, or as a selfie camera viewfinder.
The phone's other specifications are otherwise pretty similar to the Xiaomi Mi 11, including the 6.8-inch 120Hz 1440p OLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. However, the Mi 11 Ultra gets a bigger battery at 5,000mAh and can be fast-charged (what Xiaomi refers to as "turbo charging") at 67W both wirelessly and with a cable.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was not given a final price or release date at the time or announcement.
#mobile #news #48megapixel #50megapixel #8k #8kvideo #camerabump #dualpixelpro #mobiledevices #periscopecamera #samsungn2 #smartphone #smartphonephotography #xiaomi #xiaomimi11 #xiaomimi11ultra
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