Google's first foldable could have a disappearing under-display camera

20 May 2021
Google has patented an innovative way of hiding a camera under the screen.

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  • g
  • gimm
  • vgM
  • 31 Jan 2022

this is a solution to the problem that shouldn't exist at first place
just go back to the old 16:9 display ratio phone, smh

    • D
    • AnonD-909757
    • pZV
    • 22 May 2021

    Anonymous, 21 May 2021obviously the square will be visible and ugly, they should ... moreDepending on the glass layer they use, it could as well be impossible to distinguish.
    And it is still always better than a regular punch hole or the "see through" underdisplay camera that DO leave a visible spot which is bot visible AND lower quality.
    I think making it a square will make it cheaper to produce.

    Otherwise, you want a phone with no front camera at all or a pop up.

      • P
      • Phoenix
      • fC@
      • 22 May 2021

      Anonymous, 21 May 2021obviously the square will be visible and ugly, they should ... moreIts a under display camera,not visible from outside

        • D
        • AnonD-909757
        • pZV
        • 22 May 2021

        Amith, 21 May 2021The phone will be thicckeer. I think Good, phones are way too thin nowadays, sacrificing battery life, body strength, camera and using it as an excuse to omit the 3.5mm Jack...

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 0U6
          • 21 May 2021

          obviously the square will be visible and ugly, they should make it a circle to be able to sell it

            • S
            • Samirkhan
            • 7kg
            • 21 May 2021

            I really love that rype of look withount any hole and also notch on display of mobiles

              • P
              • PamelaZnout
              • 39x
              • 21 May 2021

              AnonD-731363, 21 May 2021Man but is unbelievable goole apart the OS is inventing som... moreGoogle, with its huge swathes of cash has only invented one thing, the art of data trafficking.

                • A
                • Amith
                • DkQ
                • 21 May 2021

                The phone will be thicckeer. I think

                  Let's hope it's a lot better than the Axon 20.

                    • D
                    • AnonD-731363
                    • SH3
                    • 21 May 2021

                    AnonD-909757, 21 May 2021Oh, ok, sorry, I thought you made a typo. Yeah, they usual... moreYeah man. I am confused.
                    But lets see how it will go.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-909757
                      • pZV
                      • 21 May 2021

                      AnonD-731363, 21 May 2021Man but is unbelievable goole apart the OS is inventing som... moreOh, ok, sorry, I thought you made a typo.
                      Yeah, they usually don't really innovate much, this is good to see them doing something new!

                        • D
                        • AnonD-731363
                        • SH3
                        • 21 May 2021

                        AnonD-909757, 21 May 2021As I answered to the guy before you, it can't be unrel... moreMan but is unbelievable goole apart the OS is inventing something.
                        They have so much money they can buy everything they want even the company who can invent this for them but they invent front camera themselves.
                        Its really unbelievable.

                          • D
                          • AnonD-909757
                          • pZV
                          • 21 May 2021

                          AnonD-731363, 21 May 2021Unbelieable an overpriced company with trilions of money is... moreAs I answered to the guy before you, it can't be unreliable, it works as a regular punch hole, no transparent display is needed, nor any software compensation, and if you talk about moving parts, then it isn't much different from any optical stabilization which has no issues, even the pop up proved to be more than reliable enough.
                          And because of how simple it is, it isn't expensive at all, it is quite simple, slightly more expensive than the regular punch hole but not much.

                            • D
                            • AnonD-909757
                            • pZV
                            • 21 May 2021

                            NvrOpnReply, 21 May 2021foldable + under display the crease, the immature udc, e... moreExcept that here it isn't an immature thing as it doesn't require special display, it is just a regular punch hole + camera, except that there is a mirror that make it so you either see the camera or the display.
                            It is an existing tech, nothing new or fancy here.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-909757
                              • pZV
                              • 21 May 2021

                              roryms, 21 May 2021Putting it at the top of the display is a waste. Much bette... moreThe issue is that it will clash with the battery, and it isn't as relevant as you imagine, mainly nowadays with AI that can easily make as if you looked straight to the camera, and the size of a smartphone doesn't really make it that noticeable anyway, there is a small distance between the top of the phone and the center.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-909757
                                • pZV
                                • 21 May 2021

                                Anonymous, 21 May 2021Why photo is still visible even when camera is inactive (at... moreBecause the picture has been already taken?
                                Maybe the guy who made the image didn't know what to put on the right image to illustrate the display in normal use.
                                But it is mainly here as an illustrative purpose anyway, so just think it is someone else taking the phone and using the main camera to take another picture with the main camera?

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-909757
                                  • pZV
                                  • 21 May 2021

                                  Anonymous, 21 May 2021still not as secure as a pop up camera. even the zte axo... moreActually this one is as secure as a pop up camera, as when the display is visible, the camera is literally blind, regular underdisplay camera that see through the display like the Axon 20 are indeed still able to see even with the display ON.
                                  You can imagine this concept in another way, imagine if rather than the 90° Prism/Mirror, you had a camera with a display on its back that can rotate 180°, in one direction it looks at you, on the other in doesn't, and you see the display on its back.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-909757
                                    • pZV
                                    • 21 May 2021

                                    beep bop boop, 21 May 2021We won Mr. Stark also with this prism method, does that ... moreJ.A.R.V.I.S. is that you?

                                    Yup, like my design showed, and yes I did, and thank you.
                                    And technically, it is a half periscope already, by definition a second mirror would make this Google design a true Periscope, but for Smartphone camera design definition, it already is one.
                                    Of course, it is a simplification as no lenses are laying out, but the goal is to have a continuous variable zoom using a periscope design.
                                    The top handle Standard, Wide and Ultra-Wide and the front facing camera, but apart from that it is a normal zoom.
                                    The other path is different, it is the Wide/Standard to Telephoto Zoom, and the first part of the periscope is made to handle focus control without using an Iris, so it allows deep depth of field with a wide aperture.
                                    It is the ideal representation of what I often say about Telephoto (long focus distance, deep depth of field) that can also double and triple as Portrait (short focus distance and depth of field) and Macro (super short focus distance and depth of field) should be on Smartphones.

                                    Of course, you can also push the periscope to the extreme, like my fictional concept smartphone design :
                                    https://imgur.com/gallery/ykYfaa6
                                    https://i.imgur.com/DBRpifa.png
                                    https://i.imgur.com/5SiAaIF.png
                                    And note, on the angles, those aren't Prisms on the wrong orientation, but deformable mirrors :
                                    https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-17-8-6268&id=178920
                                    Those have many advantages over lenses, including avoiding chromatic aberration.
                                    Once you understand that if you shrink a light beam, operations made on it have its focal length relative to its new size and not of the front element size, you understand how powerful and useful can be focusing and collimating to control its size :
                                    https://www.newport.com/n/focusing-and-collimating

                                      Nice patent that will not be used.

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-731363
                                        • SH3
                                        • 21 May 2021

                                        Unbelieable an overpriced company with trilions of money is inventing something else apart the OS.