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Posts Tagged ‘‘gimballike’’

Vivo shows its ‘gimbal-like’ smartphone camera stabilization system

21 May

In February Chinese smartphone maker Vivo showcased a concept phone that featured a ‘gimbal-like’ stabilization system on its rear camera. Now the company has published further information about the system that will first be commercially available on the Vivo X50 Pro which is scheduled to launch on June 1.

Vivo calls the system ‘micro cloud’ and claims it is more effective than conventional stabilization systems without quantifying the difference. It certainly looks more complex. Instead of a lens element, like on most current smartphone stabilization systems, on the Vivo the entire camera module is stabilized using a double-ball suspension which allows for movements of +/- 3° which, according to Vivo, is three times the angle of more conventional systems.

Like on most high-end stabilization systems, the mechanical motion is combined with electronic image stabilization (EIS) methods that typically slightly crop the frame in order to correct for camera shake.

Motion is powered by two voice coils and the ribbon cable connecting the camera to the main device board is folded twice in order to allow for the movements of the camera unit. One downside of the system is space-requirements, though. The system is 4.5mm thick and occupies 363mm² board space which is more than the cameras in most other current devices.

Given the X50 Pro system is the first of its kind it’s probably fair to assume following generations can be designed with smaller dimensions, and first samples look indeed promising, although the comparison device chosen for the video below appears to have a particularly bad stabilization system.

In addition to the innovative stabilization system the X50 Pro will feature a new color filter that offers 39 percent higher light transmission. Vivo says that combined with the stabilization system the camera will capture 220 percent more light than the Vivo X30 Pro. Presumably this is because the stabilization system will allow for more frames to be combined using computational methods, and/or simply lets the auto exposure system use slower shutter speeds.

If the micro cloud system works as well as advertised it should provide both super-smooth video footage and low light photos with good exposure and detail in very low light. We should find out when the X50 Pro is launched in June.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Vivo’s latest concept phone comes with ‘gimbal-like’ main camera stabilization

29 Feb

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo uses its APEX line of concept phones to showcase the latest mobile technologies and has just presented its latest version, the 5G-enabled APEX 2020 which puts a lot of focus on the cameras and display.

The first highlight is a 16MP periscopic tele camera on the back which, according to Vivo, offers an optical zoom range of 5x to 7.5x, more than the currently longest smartphone teles.

It’s not quite clear at this point how the ‘optical’ zoom is achieved but it’s fair to assume computational imaging methods will be used to achieve the upper end of the reach. In any case, performance should at least be on at least a similar level as the Huawei P30 Pro or Oppo Reno 10x Zoom which both offer a 5x optical tele lens.

Despite the impressive zoom reach the camera module is only 6.2mm thick, allowing for a slim design and only minimal camera hump.

The main main camera comes with a 48MP Quad-Bayer sensor and a stabilization system that goes way beyond what we’re seeing on current phones. The entire camera appears to be hinged in a gimbal-like structure that is capable of counteracting much more severe device motion than conventional systems. Vivo claims the new system extends the stabilization angle by 200 percent and says the design was inspired by the eyeballs of a chameleon, which freely rotates in its socket, allowing the animal to observe its prey.

The 16MP camera at the front works in similar was as we’ve already seen from Oppo and Xiaomi, and is hidden under the display which turns transparent as soon as the shutter is triggered, allowing incoming light to hit the lens. The area right above the camera also features six times larger display pixels to allow for better light transmittance. Like on the main camera, 4-in-1 pixel-binning is used to decrease image noise and increase dynamic range.

The camera also has the ability to remove passers-by in the background in real time and a ‘Voice Tracking Auto-Focus’. The latter uses audio data from the microphones and visual data from the camera to ‘focus’ audio recording on a scene’s main subject, minimizing background sounds, similar to Samsung’s ‘Zoom-in Mic’.

Other features include a ‘120-degree FullView Edgeless Display’ which measures 6.45 inches and offers a 2,330 x 1,080 resolution in its AMOLED panel which wraps around both edges at 120 degrees. This means bezels are invisible when the device is viewed form the front. There’s also Vivo’s third-generation Screen SoundCasting technology, which casts sound through the screen, eliminating the need for speaker holes and allowing for better environmental protection.

As it is appropriate for a showscase device such as the APEX, the 2020 version is powered by Qualcomm’s top-tier chipset Snapdragon 865 and runs the latest Android version 10.

We won’t find out how the APEX 2020 performs given it is unlikely to ever hit the market in its current form, but we hope some of the features of the concept phone, especially the camera elements, will make it to one of Vivo’s production devices in the near future.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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