14 DAY TRIAL // Digital cameras are, at core, the same across the board, not counting the difference in size and the image sensor. Samsung wants to gain some ground on everyone else, though, so it is preparing to make cameras with transparent displays.
Transparent displays aren't a new invention. We've seen prototypes, in the past, of various digital signage applications, and even the occasional see-through laptop.
But the technology isn't exactly one expensive enough, or easy enough to miniaturize, that it could be considered a feasible thing for small devices.
Sure, there has been plenty of concept art showing translucent or transparent phones, but makers of mobile devices seem more concerned with flexible and curved screens than transparent ones at the moment.
Presumably, that is why Samsung is preparing to make a camera with a transparent screen: because not many have similar plans.
The resulting monopoly should allow it to hoard a bit of fame for a while, maybe impress the world with its expertise in display and photo/video capture technology.
It's also true that digital cameras have been selling less and less because smartphones have been doing a good job of emulating their capabilities. Especially the new high-end ones. And since Samsung sells both, it is bound to know what can help bring customers closer.
The diagram included by Samsung in the patent filing (as we found out the other day) doesn't look like something that professionals will like.
It's more of a general consumer-oriented gadget, which makes sense in a way. Transparent screens aren't going to be more than a fashion statement for a time, and professionals aren't concerned with fashion.
The DSLR seems to have the normal array of lenses, flashes and even a side-mounted power button. That, unfortunately, is all that the patent has revealed so far.
Regardless, Samsung has said that it is making a transparent display DSLR camera, so a DSLR camera with a see-through screen is what we will be keeping an eye out for. Curiously enough, the screen doesn't seem to be a flippable one. The DSLR is made of a single piece, with the panel taking up about two thirds of the left hand side.
The company did not say how the transparent display could possibly help the experience. Well, it did mention that the photographer and subject will be able to look each other in the eye, but that kind of defeats the purpose of most shots, since it's the objective that you're supposed to look at when posing. All in all, it seems that Samsung is preparing a see-through screen because it has no other ideas left.