Samsung patent reveals tilting camera lens array for Smartphone

A new Samsung patent reveals they are working on a smartphone with six camera lenses that can tilt, sitting in an array. A lens would then capture more of a particular scene or object with greater detail.

Samsung's design consists of five wide-angle lenses and one telephoto lens. Although the patent application was made last year, it is only now public. The 'movable' cameras allow users to take panoramic photos with a single click. It is also possible with this type of photos to blur the background behind the object. In addition, the individual cameras would have different features, including a monochrome camera for more details and features to improve low-light performance. Whether these cameras will actually be introduced is unknown. In any case, it is new that multiple cameras can rotate independently over several axes. The news brought by android police is definitely interesting as this is a first for smartphones, not including the rotating lenses:

Samsung phones are some of the most popular devices on the planet, but just because it sells phones that appeal to mainstream consumers doesn't mean its averse to trying out crazy new concepts. It was one of the first companies to place bets on foldables with the Galaxy Fold and its upcoming sequel. Now, a newly-published patent filed by Samsung reveals it is thinking about a fascinating new vision for smartphone cameras.

Last year, Samsung applied for a patent called 'Apparatus and method for operating multiple cameras for digital photography', and the 55-page document has now been published online. It appears to show that the company is experimenting with a camera array featuring five wide-angle lenses and one telephoto lens, as well as other variations. But what's really interesting here is that the cameras are tiltable, with each lens being able to tilt independently of the others. Theoretically, a device could optimize the camera array configuration using special image processing algorithms that achieve greater quality than if the sensors were immovable.

One great example of a way this could work is when photographing a panoramic landscape. With the outside camera lens tilting toward the edges and the center ones remaining straight, a device could capture a wider, higher-quality image by taking data from all six lenses and combining them into one awesome snapshot.

It's unknown whether or not this technology will ever find its way into a smartphone though, for now, its merely a patent.