LG Patent Shows 16-Camera Smartphone For Capturing Moving Images

Camera features and quality are an important differentiator for today’s smartphones. In the current landscape, where virtually all of the latest flagship Android phones are based on the same mobile processor platform (namely, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 in this generation), camera features are one of the few areas where a manufacturer can truly stand out.

In addition to continually increasing image quality, some smartphone manufacturers have also begun incorporating multiple cameras into their devices to enable new features. The LG V40 ThinQ, for example, has three rear-facing cameras that can all capture images simultaneously, so the user doesn’t have to fumble between modes and can choose their favorite shot of the three angles captured.

Having multiple cameras also allows for more accurate depth sensing for better portrait mode shots, among other useful effects. Huawei, Samsung, and Asus, among other smartphone manufactures, all have multiple cameras on at least one of their devices.

In a recently filed patent discovered by LetsGoDigital, LG appears to be looking to drastically step things up in the future with a 16-lens smartphone camera setup capable of capturing what the patent calls “moving images”.

In US patent number 10,135,963, LG reveals not only the 16-lens camera setup, but outlines an array of potential capabilities. The “plurality of lenses”, as LG refers to them, can capture images, and data from at least two of the images can be compiled to create “moving image data”. Although not discussed in the patent application, over and above the moving image feature, having that many cameras can also allow for interesting noise-reduction capabilities when multiple images of the same subject can be compared to find imperfections in the shot. More quickly producing accurate 3D scans of a subject or even measuring distances are additional possibilities. The patent also outlines being able to piece together data from multiple images and stitching images together to display them from different perspectives.

This patent doesn’t necessarily mean LG has definite plans to release a consumer product with the 16-lens setup outlined in the document, but it’s interesting to see what kind of innovative camera features smartphone manufacturers have planned and just how far they may be willing to go to achieve them.