A couple of days ago, Xiaomi officially released its first-ever foldable smartphone, Xiaomi Mi MIX Fold. This smartphone in the MIX series is coming two years after the last MIX device. The Mi MIX Fold comes with Xiaomi’s self-developed professional image sensor, Surge C1. This device is also the world’s first smartphone to use a liquid lens. So, many consumers are curious, what is the use of this liquid lens? How much improvement does it bring to the imaging capabilities of mobile phones?
Today, Xiaomi gives a brief explanation of what the liquid lens offers. According to reports, the conventional solid lens has a problem that is difficult to solve so far. When the lens module tries to achieve macro imaging, the output is not entirely great. This is because the element movement within the lens significantly increases. This effect is more prevalent with the telephoto lens since it requires a large amount of elemental movement to capture ultra-close-range imaging.
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The current requirements for the size of the solid-state module are difficult to achieve. In addition, the limitation of the motor stroke design is difficult to overcome.
Furthermore, telephoto and macro shooting are possible by digital cropping and post-magnification. This results in the disadvantages of low resolution and poor picture quality.
The design of the Xiaomi liquid lens greatly improves the magnification and image quality under the premise of ensuring the size of the module.
So how does the Xiaomi liquid lens achieve focus?
According to reports, the lens is based on the principle of bionics. There is a flowable liquid film that replaces the traditional optical lens. This positively changes the focal length and focus. The solid traditional lens comes with a liquid component with fluidity like a human eye lens. By squeezing the liquid lens, its optical power can be continuously changed, thereby achieving a continuous range from a long-range view to a close-range view.
Not only that, the liquid lens also reduces the FOV change from the distant scene to the close scene. There are almost no changes during the zooming process from the distant scene to the general close scene, which is more suitable for video shooting.
According to Xiaomi’s official statement, this is the first time that liquid lens technology has been applied to mobile phone cameras. It is a new breakthrough that Xiaomi Mi MIX FOLD has made in macro shooting. It also opens up unlimited possibilities for Xiaomi to explore the world.
