Mumbai: Smartphone manufacturers are burning the candle at both ends to craft disruptive handsets; ones that can stand out amid copious competitors trying to sell their devices at dirt cheap prices.
However, just performance is not enough for smartphones to dictate the market; modern day customers also look out for devices that offer a blend of state-of-the art features with distinguished performance dexterity.
While some of them are concentrating on the software front, the bigger players are constantly trying to integrate exciting hardware to make their handsets stand out.
For instance, the fingerprint scanner, which was first seen on Apple’s iPhone 5s, is now a thing of the past, as most smartphone manufacturers—big or small—have incorporated the technology to their respective flagship devices.
Now with slight marginalisation of the fingerprint scanner, camera hardware is again buzzing; however, this time handset makers are concentrating on not one camera but two! This is due to the inception of 360-degree image technology and VR.
According to the Verge, the smartphone camera space is evolving with every passing day but it is still difficult to incorporate excellent snapping tech in slim smartphone bodies.
However, two companies—LG and Huawei—have succeeded in breaking that barrier by introducing dual camera setups on their premier devices.
It has been rumoured that the iPhone 7 Plus will also employ a dual camera setup for enhanced image capturing capability; its biggest rival Samsung won't be far behind as there are rumours indicating that the Galaxy S8 will sport a dual-lens module.
Moreover, it has been speculated that the iPhone 7 4.7-inch version will also sport a dual camera setup. Another PhoneRadar leak also suggested that LeEco’s next model will equip twin cameras.
Why the hype?
The hype regarding dual-lens camera modules ignited when a compact camera design company, dubbed Corephotonics, introduced a dual-lens module at the MWC two years ago.
The Israeli-startup introduced its dual-camera technology which simply relies on two cameras. So you must be wondering how that helps?
Well, both the 13MP cameras can combine to offer 5X optical zoom. However, the key factor here is the images from the two lens modules are combined together via algorithms and stitched into a single higher resolution image.
Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon platform played a big role to combine the images, which looked much sharper than any single lens smartphone camera could ever replicate.
In fact, HDR and low-light photography is strikingly good on dual-lens modules eliminating any visible noise or blur—something that smartphone manufacturers have been trying to achieve for a long time.
360-degree image and VR integration
VR, high-resolution videos, and 360-degree images, are gaining immense prominence as social media platforms are now concentrating on making their platforms more interactive for users.
For example, Facebook has introduced 360-degree videos and images; Google has also introduced the same and other social platforms are working or will soon start incorporating the same.
With that in mind, smartphone manufacturers have realised that the game changer for them is undoubtedly going to be better cameras with higher resolutions, capable of clicking interactive images.
However, normal cameras using normal lens technology are incapable of achieving such a forte as they can’t match the specifications required to do so. In such a scenario, dual-lens cameras perfectly fill the gap.
Apart from that, the dream of matching DSLR-like image possibility or expectation that users have been waiting for is not possible without the incorporation of dual-cameras; not even flagship camera phones such as Samsung S7 Edge and HTC 10 can match the image quality offered by DSLR cams.
With more companies following the new trend, it is not far from when dual-camera modules will become a common sight on most smartphones.
