Samsung Electro-Mechanics has developed and patented a technology that minimizes lens assembly. This technology allows to reduce the size of the camera module while maintaining or enhancing its performance. As the installation of camera modules is increasing in portable electronic devices such as smartphones, Samsung Electro-Mechanics explained that the recent demand for miniaturization of portable electronic devices has increased.
The camera module lens is circular in general, whereas the image sensor of the camera module is rectangular. Hence, all the light refracted by the lens is not focused on the image sensor. By unnecessary parts from the lens, Samsung Electro-Mechanics could reduce the size of the lens, which allows to consider a method of reducing the camera module. However, when a part of the lens is removed, it degrades the image quality. Samsung Electro-Mechanics solved this issue by changing the length of the lens and using a method to layer multiple lenses.
The size of the camera for smartphones can be significantly reduced by applying the patented technology. The need for miniaturization has become more necessary than ever as pixels of a smartphone camera increases, which simultaneously increases the size of parts and the number of camera lenses. Samsung Electronics will install a 200-megapixel camera module for the first time in its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S23, which is scheduled to be released early next year.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics developed and preemptively commercialized an optical 10x zoom folded camera module. It is devoting everything to develop a compact camera that can cover a far distance while maintaining the small size.
By Staff Reporter Sora Park (srpark@etnews.com)