TECH

Huawei patents ‘Liquid Lens Camera Module’, Might debut on P50 series

Huawei is well-known for its smartphone photography for the past few years. Every year the company brings new innovations in this category. This year’s Huawei P40 series features the largest CMOS sensor on any phone. Now, a patent reveals the company to be working on liquid lens technology.
According to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) portal, Huawei had filed a patent related to liquid lens camera module on December 25, 2019. The same has been approved on April 7, 2020.
As per the information available on portal, the patent includes a moving motor, camera placeholder, and electronic hardware to move the liquid lens.
As Huawei Central explains a stator is moved in the direction of the optical axis with the help of the motor. This stator is further connected with a liquid lens via spring. There’s also a limiter that Limits the connected spring in the direction of the optical axis when the altitude range changes.

This patented camera module for the liquid lens improves the stability and reliability of the motor under harsh conditions like impact or drop.
One might be wondering why Huawei has to implement such complex camera module into a smartphone. The answer is liquid lens offers faster autofocus and better stabilization. It takes less space than other lens and can eliminate the need for additional TOF sensor.
Since the patent has been only approved last week, we can expect this tech in Huawei P50 series in 2021 rather than Mate 40 series whose design might have been already finalized.

By Sudarshan