LG patent hints at smartphone with 16 cameras on the rear

referring to A recent patent filing by Dutch publication LetsGoDigital suggests that the South Korean major could be working on a smartphone with a crazy 16 cameras on the back. In a patent filing with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), LG refers to this technique as a "plurality of lenses". According to a patent filing, the 16 camera lenses will be arranged in a 4×4 array. Having 16 lenses on a smartphone's back will be a huge leap from the four cameras on the Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018). For now, this is just a patent and there's a chance that LG will never launch a smartphone with 16 cameras.

LG patent hints at a 16-lens smartphone camera

Phone cameras are an arms race of sorts, and LG might be looking to escalate things dramatically with a future phone that could feature a whopping 16 lenses, via LetsGoDigital. But LG's patent would look to go far beyond even that, with a full 16-camera array. LG's patent also describes combining the different camera angles to create a miniature film, sort of like a superpowered version of things like Apple's Live Photos or Lytro's adjustable light field images. Of course, for now this is just a patent, with no indication that LG is actually planning to put this into a phone. But with the ever-escalating battle to push phone cameras to the limit, it may only be a matter of time until the hexadecimal camera is a reality.

LG bendable smartphone described by patent filing

according to Flex, Foldi and Duplex are three trademark filings that LG has filed, that were uncovered last week. However, the folks over at LetsGoDigital have uncovered another trademark filing for a rather interesting device. This time around, it's an LG Display patent filing, meaning the display division is at least considering this option. The pictures above (concept) and below (trademark filing drawings) are pretty self-explanatory. Another note is that this is not a WIPO filing, but a KIPO filing, which is a local one.

LG patent describes smartphone with 16 camera lenses

As exciting as a smartphone with five lenses or cameras might be, on the back alone, if LG is even remotely serious about this patent, it'll blow the Nokia 9 PureView out of the water. LG has filed a patent with the USPTO that LetsGoDigital uncovered. It was granted on November 20, and describes a smartphone with 16 lenses. Yes, 16, or in other words, a hexadecimal camera smartphone. Besides the 16 lenses and the flash, said phone would also feature a mirror on the back.

collected by :John Smith