14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Toshiba has made official a new dual camera setup for smartphones, one that comes with twin 1/4 inch optical format 5-megapixel CMOS camera modules (5 megapixels x 2 arrays), capable of simultaneously recording images and videos.
The new product, TCM9518MD, will begin shipping in samples on January 31 next year, reopening the door to 3D mobile products.
For those out of the loop, we should note that 3D-capable smartphones had their share of glory a few years ago, but that the industry shifted towards more powerful processors instead, leaving the 3D capabilities aside.
However, chances are that handsets packing this functionality will return to users’ attention soon, and Toshiba appears set to grab a piece of the market as well.
The new TCM9518MD features a dedicated image processing LSI capable of measuring and appending depth data to objects in the image, the company notes.
“Used in combination with customers' applications, the module supports new photo functions, including focus and defocus, and even allows objects in photographs to be extracted and erased,” Toshiba announced.
The LSI can deliver 13-megapixel photos through upscaling images shot with the aforementioned twin 5-megapixel cameras, with a lower module height compared to that of conventional 13-megapixel camera modules.
The new module also features “simultaneous output of depth data (Depth Map) and deep focus image, supporting functions which include focus and defocus, and even to extract and erase objects from the picture, in combination with customer’s applications,” the company explains.
Moreover, the twin cameras come with digital focus function, which enables it to adjust the point of focus without mechanism to move lenses.
For the time being, there’s no telling on how popular the new camera module from Toshiba will be, so we’ll have to wait for smartphones packing it to arrive on the market to learn more on that. However, no info on when that should happen has been provided as of now.