Samsung is one of the first smartphone makers to integrate the Time of Flight camera sensor on its smartphone and made it available to the consumers this year. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G features the time of flight sensor at the front, enabling the device to use background blur during recording while taking advantage of the ability to measure dimensions. Interestingly, a new report claims that the Seoul-based tech and electronics titan is closely working with a new supplier of time of flight sensor that will be used for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S11 flagship smartphone.
A report from the Chinese social networking site Weibo is currently suggesting that Samsung is working with a new supplier for its Time of Flight sensor. With the continuous advancement in technology, other competing tech giants are ensuring that they release their handsets with the latest technology available. And, it appears that Samsung understands this and would like to further enhance its smartphones by improving the technology packed.
The latest whispers on Weibo suggest that Chinese company Sunny Optical will be Samsung's latest supplier of time of flight camera sensors for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S11 series. But, the claim failed to disclose the details of the new time of flight camera sensor. Sunny Optical has not yet supplied Samsung in the past, most likely the company will offer a more enhanced and technologically advanced sensor.
The Chinese company is a known manufacturer of customized solutions. It is also the company responsible for the assembly of the periscope camera setup used in Huawei P30 Pro. According to GI Securities analyst Jeff Pu, the company might even make it on the suppliers' list of Apple for its 2021 iPhone series.
The Time of Flight sensor works by emitting a wave pulse and by measuring the time it takes for the pulse to move back to the sensor. Because of this, depth estimation becomes possible, which enables the gadget using the sensor to interact with its environment in ways that a basic CMOS sensor could not do. Nowadays, manufacturers are almost running out of ways to improve the photography aspect of smartphones, and they are slowly shifting their focus.
Several reports are pieces of evidence about this shift. We have heard recent stories about the trend in chip designs with ARM and Apple customizing their IP for neural as well as for machine learning computations. These will be used for virtual reality and augmented reality applications. Meanwhile, Samsung Galaxy S11 is expected to be released in three variants and will feature 10 times lossless zoom.
