New technology wish list for Sony phones

[Avalon11]

Hello. I admire companies such as Sony and  Huawei for attention to developing closer to professional quality phone camera‘s with bigger size sensors/individual pixels and fast lens providing good enough image/video quality even in low light conditions challenging bulky mirrorless/DSLR camera's as well having interesting optional camera's. Sony has made great camera’s such as A7s which is still best in low light and there are rumors of phone camera’s coming with f/1.2 what could be incredible news for such thin phone design!

I still do use APC-C format Sony A3000 mirrorless full spectrum modified camera for art work investigation/documentation and hobby photography which still beats phone camera in terms of low light sensitivity/dynamic range. But it’s just not always possible to carry bulky and heavy camera everywhere I go, when for example exercising, hiking and traveling. Somewhere I saw good quote: best camera is which you have available when it‘s needed. And there are rare, unpredictable moments to take that great shot. That’s why better quality phone camera’s are needed.

Now I wish to see improved current and entirely new technology for quantum leap in quality of camera’s, display and battery quality. A lot of improvements could come in graphene era which is not far future. Graphene is miracle material with a lot of useful properties although it is still hard to manufacture in large quantities it has great potential to upgrade phones in many ways. So here is my wish list:

1) Bigger sensor/pixel camera’s or super sensitive graphene based CMOS camera‘s. Some incredible engineering went into squizing in such thin phone design.as large as possible sensors, wide aperture as well great zoom lens to maximize versatility of camera‘s. Currently Huawei P40 Pro which has huge 1/1.28" size sensor and 2.44µm pixel size makes it most sensitive phone camera to date. So it would great if Sony would also increase camera sensitivity in such way or add wider aperture lens. It’s important especially to reduce long exposures especially when using low ISO like 100 to reduce image noise grain. High ISO settings are also needed when there is no time for long exposures or shooting HFR video in low light conditions but high ISO comes at a cost of image noisiness or low signal/to noise ratio. Better signal/noise ratio can be achieved by increasing camera sensitivity, light gathering ability or by keeping sensor cold with cooler.

There is competition to increase resolution of camera’s probably due to amateur belief that they provide better image but it’s true only to some degree. Sure they could provide real benefit for better digital zoom and more room for cropping. But as for professional quality photography I think having a lot of megapixels in small sensor like 108Mp is overkill because even 12Mp resolution is enough for a photo with some room to crop. People must understand that image detail is limited not only by megapixel count but also optical lens resolution, light gathering ability in low light conditions or darker image parts such as shadows, image noise and shakiness (most notably with longer exposures or zooms). Of course modern high resolution phones started using pixel binning to combine 4 or even more pixels for more sensitivity but lower resolution sensors still have deeper wells capable of gathering more light energy.

There was great leap in camera sensitivity around 2012-2013 when front-illuminated sensors were replaced with back-illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensors but from then same technology is still used to this day. New type CMOS sensors are being developed which use graphene instead of silicon photodetectors. They were reported to be at least 10 times more sensitive than currently used silicon sensors and not just to visible spectrum.

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/157082-graphene-sensor-is-1000-times-more-sensitive-to-light-cou...

These camera's could have very broad spectrum sensitivity from visible, infrared spectrum and even terahertz rays. Not to get too technical graphene photodetector great sensitivity is explained by this quote: “Graphene-based materials are useful for detecting light. Graphene does not have a bandgap, as compared to standard materials used for photodetection, such as silicon. The bandgap in silicon prevents absorption, and thus detection, of incident light with wavelengths longer than one micron.“

Infrared camera's operating in SWIR, MWIR and LWIR (or FLIR thermal infrared) spectrum range could provide passive night vision in pitch black darkness or allow to see better thought fog, smoke, rain, snow as well other materials, help identify quickly substances such as water which would appear black while organic solvent would more transparent, inspect food quality, quickly detect warmer objects in the environment, allow to measure temperature at a distance and I could go on listing amazing applications. Just with graphene based CMOS camera's this invisible world imaging wouldn't be prohibitively expensive for individual consumers, have better resolution, performance and not require cooling.

https://www.graphene-info.com/mitsubishi-electric-developing-graphene-based-super-wideband-image-sen...

2) Mini LED or Micro LED display. Currently used IPS and OLED displays have problems which could be resolved by utilizing Micro LED displays. OLED displays have vibrant colors and perfect blacks, are thinner, more power efficient since only individual pixels drain energy although displays are very expensive to manufacture and replace, screen does burn in (blue pixels degrade fastest) and are less brighter. IPS technology is cheaper and brighter but due to backlight drain more battery and has poor contrast. Micro LED display could have advantages of both worlds except that they would have better brightness of 4000 or even 10000 nits, have fast refresh rate, would be more durable and blue LED‘s have considerably longer lifespan, inorganic LED materials are more stable unlike organic.

https://www.profolus.com/topics/microled-advantages-and-disadvantages/#:~:text=Because%20each%20pixe....

Problem is still getting LED’s small enough but ridiculously high resolution is not needed for such small display but refresh rate should be increased to 120hz or higher for smoother animations.

3) Monochrome camera. Sensors with RGBW color filter array or monochrome camera’s are significantly more sensitive and provide better dynamic range since a lot of light is lost due to Bayer filter. RGBW sensors would be great also for mirrorless camera’s and be more useful for UV/IR photography enthusiasts and researchers. Not sure why new phone models ditched monochrome sensors when multiple camera systems are used anyway.

4) Wider aperture “faster” and more transparent lens. Another way to increase camera sensitivity as well nice depth of field is by increasing lens aperture although there are technical challenges to fit such fast lens in phones which need to fit in pocket. Although I wouldn’t mind lens to stick out a bit more. Honor 20 Pro phones hold record for having fastest f/1.4 lens camera but if rumors are correct Sony has plans to release even faster f/1.2- f/2.4. lens and not just for main phone camera.

Novel metalens could have advantage of being flat thin as 600nm, lighter and requiring less lens elements because they focus entire visible spectrum in one spot thus eliminating need for extra lens elements correcting achromatic aberrations. Metalens can also focus by being deformed with artificial muscle enabling flat, compact autofocus as well as the capability for simultaneously correcting optical aberrations and performing optical image stabilization.

https://www.kurzweilai.net/metalens-with-artificial-muscle-simulates-and-goes-way-beyond-human-eye-a...

Interchangeable lens concept in phones is also interesting because bigger aperture or focal length (field of view) higher quality lens could be attached, there is huge variety for example of M12 lens or similar size lens which would be compact enough to fit in pocket when detached. This way sensor also can be made much larger. Furthermore these lenses can be used with filters or hoods which could further improve image quality. Other approach to fit larger lens it’s to take example from Panasonic CM1 phones using expandable lens but this approach takes more space and has complicated mechanism.

Lens material can be also important factor. Traditional professional camera lens are made from grass such as BK7 although phones use cheaper plastic lens which can provide good enough image quality and even Leica lens phones use plastic lens. However LG V30 phone is exception that uses f/1.6 Crystal Clear glass lens which is claimed to have greater light-collecting ability and wide spectrum transparency.

5) Bring back earphone jack! For those who like listening to music or podcasts with earphones lack of jack is disappointment. Bluetooth earphones need separate batteries which run out of power and complicate their use. Using micro USB adapter also is problematic because there is excessive wear of contacts and connector eventually gets loose. Besides micro USB port needs to be used for example to charge/not to drain battery. It would be better to listen to music and watch movies with phone connected to power supply. I doubt leaving only micro USB connector improves water resistance and for those who need waterproof phone can use better techniques such as port plugs or waterproof cases. If 3.5m earphone jack is taking too much space there is option of using smaller 2,5mm audio jacks.

6) Graphene enhanced lithium or supercapacitor batteries. Still to this day same old lithium battery technology is used to power smartphones. But supercapacitors would have advantage of being flexible, thinner, lack of liquid electrolyte minimizes explosion risk, most importantly be charged instantly and recharged probably indefinitely. Even when bent at 180 degrees, it performed almost same as when it was flat, and after 5,000 recharge cycles, it retained 97.8% of its capacity. Actually other tests showed they worked as new even after 30000 cycles. Another way is yo use graphene enchanced batteries. Graphene thermal and electrical superconductivity as well „2D“ structure with large surface area are properties that make this material so useful in batteries. Of course they might have to still compete with older technology offering better energy capacity but believe they would improve over time like all technology did.

https://www.engadget.com/2016-11-22-super-capacitor-battery-30000-cycles.html

Graphene has a lot of other beneficial properties and applications in phones. Graphene is known for being together one of the strongest and lightest materials, stronger 200 times than steel yet lighter than carbon fiber composites. It's already being added into carbon fiber composites to further increase strength to weight ratio. So I imagine tough frames and screens could be made from it. Lighter materials are also needed to reduce phone weight.

Maybe it‘s too early too talk about this cutting edge technology but smartphone industry has means and need to keep upgrading technology. Currently released phones do get gradually better in some ways although not many dare experiment with new technology for quantum leap in quality and it’s getting boring seeing same tech over and over again.