LG developing slimline optical zoom for smartphones

LG developing slimline optical zoom for smartphones
Cameras. Phones. Where is the line, eh?

LG has given some pretty cool details on the next-gen technology we can expect to see in camera phones.

The most interesting is the confirmation that the Korean brand is working on optical zooms for smartphones, something which hasn't been seen outside of Asia for over half a decade.

Jakyung Jeon, Senior Research Engineer from LG's camera sensor development arm, Innotek, said that brand was working on a: "slim optical zoom for the [smartphone] size."

He added: "We're looking at developing a 16MP cameraphone sensor as well as working on optical image stabilisation for our sensors.

"We've already completed and ramped up iris and mechanical shutters on cameraphones for another customer too."

Power snapper

While consumers may have lost interest in the megapixel wars (especially since the launch of Nokia's 808 Pureview) but the notion of a mechanical shutter is interesting, as it will allow crisper and better-lit pictures from a mobile.

LG also said that optical image stabilisation, shown off on the Nokia Lumia 920 handset, was something that many other of its customers had requested and it was hoping to complete development on the technology soon.

So it's good news for those that just HAVE to show the world how much fun they're having – and even more chance to ruin them with Instagram too.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.