Today’s flagship phones come with proper camera modules that often house some kind of hybrid solution for zoom photography. Often these are solutions where a zoom of up to 100 times is offered thanks to the combination of digital and optical zoom working together. Now the LG company LG Innotek has presented a camera module for mobile phones that offers continuous optical zoom, from 4 to 9 times, without taking up too much space.
To offer continuous zoom, a periscope-like solution is used with lenses that, with a minimum movement of 1 micrometre, can be adjusted as needed. On paper, this should translate into more detailed images, compared to continuous zoom where digital zoom is used. With the zoom change, phones equipped with the module may reduce the number of camera sensors on the back of the phones, as well as only offering adequate zoom.
LG Innotek is not the first with a similar solution. In Samsung’s latest flagship, periscope solutions are used to provide users with adequate zoom without compromising image quality. Samsung’s solution, however, is that it’s a fixed lens with 10x zoom. According to rumors, Apple also plans to provide the next iPhone with a similar zoom solution.
LG Innotek’s new camera module will receive a proper presentation in connection with CES 2023 and perhaps we will find out later which phones will be the first to come out with this solution. However, the wait appears to be relatively short. The company is working with Qualcomm to deliver phones running the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with the camera module, which could mean it will appear in phones released as early as the first half of 2023.
How often do you use zoom with your cell phone camera?
