Hope still remains that we may see the iPhone 5 at WWDC 2012 but it is looking unlikely. However, we are still seeing new speculations about the handset coming in a barrage almost daily. News rolled in today of a new multi-point touch focus camera possibility for the iPhone 5.
iPhone 5 camera to feature multipoint touch focus
Reports, via AppleInsider, claim that Apple was just awarded a multi-point focusing system patent that integrated hardware that is capable of multi-touch input. A game changing revolution that could find its way into every generation, hereafter, of Apples’ next products.
The system will allow the user of a camera equipped iDevice to choose more than one area of focus on a touchscreen. As the picture is taken each is passed through a separate image processor to give optimal exposure and sharpness of both areas. This revolutionary patent also mentions the capabilities for automated image capturing progress. Simply put: the old way of capturing images often included focus on an area not desired by the photographer. Apple navigated their way around this by combining multitouch input with live preview imaging which creates the desired image, every time. Through advanced auto focusing algorithms and tracking this new way of taking pictures constantly keeps record of user defined regions of interest.
Differing from the iPhone 4S we have now, the focus wont be restricted to center weighting or face detection, instead to the specific areas the user wants to capture. The imaging processor is capable of calculating two or more designated areas and adjusting the camera focus to alter the distance between the image sensor and the rear element of the lens. Pinching the touchscreen will allow the user to alter the image’s overall focus. Apple added that the new system would require a large amount of processing power, and the patent hints that a dedicated chip will be used to process the sensor data and control the cameras operation.
We already leaped a large step forward with the new camera found on the iPhone 4S, and the reworked optics on the iPhone 5 are guaranteed to give you the chance to capture images that nobody has been able to capture previously using a smartphone. It is still unknown whether this technology will be used in the iPhone 5 but the competition Apple faces in the smartphone market gives it a high probability.
Dedicated image processing chip like HTC One X
As expected though, to work the system will require a large amount of processing power. So the patent hints that a dedicated chip will be used to process the sensor data and control the cameras operation. Just like how the HTC One X has its own dedicated image processing chip, Apple will need to come up with a much more powerful one (while keeping battery life in mind) for the iPhone 5 to get its pictures to come out perfect everytime.
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