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With a total of five, LG’s current flagship smartphone V40 ThinQ already offers more camera modules than most of its competitors. However, it appears the current dual and triple-camera setups are only the beginning of a multi-camera arms race in the mobile industry.
According to a recent patent filing discovered by Dutch technology publication LetsGoDigital, the Korean manufacturer could be working on a smartphone with 16 sensors and lenses in the main camera array. The individual modules are arranged in a 4 x 4 matrix and designed to record the same scene from slightly offset angles, enabling the capture of 3D video or interesting image manipulation effects.
In an example it is shown how it would be possible to rotate the head of a portrait subject (or a teddy bear in the illustration below) to the angle you like best after capture.
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Another example shows how the multi-cam technology could be combined with artificial intelligence features. Users could select a subject by drawing around it. The system then searches for other photos of the same person and then offers other, potentially more flattering, “heads” to replace the original with. This could be a useful function when one person in a group shot has their eyes closed, for example.
The patent also describes how the main camera array could be used to take selfies using a simple mirror, a concept that users of older flip-phones or compact cameras might still be familiar with.
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As usual there is no way of knowing if or when the technology will make it into a final product but it’s great to see manufacturers are working on new ways of making the cameras in our pockets even more powerful. For more detail, you can have a look at the patent documents on the USPTO website.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)