Samsung patents a movable camera setup that’s one of its kind

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
(Image credit: TechRadar)

Most modern-day smartphones are crammed with useless camera sensors which make one wonder why smartphone makers are not innovating enough. After all, a pair of good sensors on a phone can make a world of a difference.

The South Korean tech major Samsung, however, seem to have other ideas. The company which is getting ready to launch a couple of foldable phones in just a few days has patented an innovative solution to offer better image quality on the phone.

According to the patent documents spotted by the good folks at LetsGoDigital, Samsung wants to use a triple camera system that can be moved within the phone’s cavity to create a variable aperture and variable Field of View (FoV) when required.

The patent was first filed in October 2020 and has been awarded to Samsung just a few days back and stated that the cameras will be horizontally aligned next to each other when in the default position. According to the patent documents, the wide-angle lens is placed in the centre coupled with a couple of telephoto lens placed to its left and right.

Samsung Galaxy camera

(Image credit: LetsGoDigital)

However, depending on the users’ instruction, the sensor placed in the middle can move down while the two on either side can move outwards, thus creating a triangular shape.

This movement of sensors will also result in aperture change, thus resulting in a more powerful and vivid camera setup that can help click better images in challenging lighting conditions and different images that need to be shot. Variable aperture will also help users to shoot images with a shallow depth of field thus creating a DSLR like blur effect.

Additionally, this variable setup will also help users zoom in closer to the subject without physically moving closer to the subject. Also, since it will not be a digitally zoomed image, the image is expected to be detailed and vivid.

Compared to a fixed focus camera found on most smartphones, a setup with a variable aperture is bound to offer better results moreover it will offer flexibility to the users. While Samsung had earlier used cameras with a variable aperture on a couple of its flagship phones, this new implementation could be completely different from what anyone has done till now.

That said since this is just a patent at this point, it is indeed possible that Samsung Electronics might improve on the setup hence by the time the company decides to implement this setup in any smartphone. Though only time will tell.

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Jitendra Soni

Jitendra has been working in the Internet Industry for the last 7 years now and has written about a wide range of topics including gadgets, smartphones, reviews, games, software, apps, deep tech, AI, and consumer electronics.