Resumen de Smartphone camera physics resources
A tour-de-force posting on smartphone camera (SPC) optical and electronic physics was recently made to Phys-L by Weber State Professor Emeritus John Sohl. Our modern pocket devices contain up to five integrated cameras and rangefinders whose data are combined to produce remarkable results from an incredibly thin form factor, and are wonders of recent technical innovation. The first review document from De Gruyter, “Smartphone imaging technology and its applications” by Blahnik and Schindelbeck at Zeiss, is an extensive summary introduction to SPC design and attendant technologies such as stabilization and detectors, and particularly the tiny, short multielement (typically 5–8 plastic aspherical lens elements with antireflective coatings) camera modules found in smartphones. Sohl further notes that modern GRIN (GRadiated INdex of refraction—elements manufactured with varying indices of refraction by manipulating the lens material) elements are used in some new cameras and recent consumer optical devices, and some recent SPC designs include prismatic periscopes. Finally, Prof. Sasian’s slides include comparisons of multiple smartphone camera module patents. There’s a lot more here than the Gaussian lens equations. Also, the future appears to be image correction and synthesis from multiple cameras and exposures using software, including AI.
