Nowadays, the term ‘dual-camera phones’ is trending. You might be wondering what a dual camera phone is and what’s the purpose of the second camera. Well, let’s find out.
As the name suggests, dual-camera consists of two cameras, a primary camera that acts as a regular camera. The other one is a secondary camera that can serve various purposes from capturing details to adding a different angled shot to the original one.
Primary camera
The primary camera in a dual-camera phone is a regular RGB camera which is similar to the ones we have on regular smartphones.
Secondary camera
Now, this is the additional camera that can serve many purposes. Right now, there is no standard use of the second camera. Every phone uses this secondary camera differently.
- It can be a monochromatic camera that just captures a black and white image and hence it can store additional information like depth or sharpness or other minute details. This enhances the quality of the original photo.
- It can also capture a different image and then the captured image is stitched with the image from the primary camera. This thus gives a wider picture. In this case, both cameras need to be identical.
- It can also capture a different aspect of the image and add more details to the original image to give it a three-dimensional effect.
- The secondary camera can also be used to create a fake bokeh effect. This effect blurs the background and the picture appears as if taken by a professional from a DSLR camera.
- It can also serve the purpose of optical zooming to get a distant picture without distorting the image quality.
Future of dual-camera phones
Right now, dual cameras just stand for adding something new to the phone. Every phone’s dual-camera serves different purposes. And there are many things unexplored. You may be able to capture 180-degree or 360-degree videos right from your phone. You may also be able to shoot a three-dimensional video from your phone which is as professional as it can get. The possibilities are endless. And so is our imagination.
Marques Brownlee on Dual camera smartphones
