Light And Sony Partner Up To Improve Smartphone Photography

The maker of the L16 camera, Light has recently partnered with Sony to develop computational imaging solutions.  In addition, it also plans to partner with other companies.

The Light L16 smartphone launched in 2017 packed with 16 rear cameras. The company’s algorithms allow many camera sensors to work on concert to capture images with high quality. Light thinks smartphones should benefit from the company’s advanced computational imaging solutions.

Both companies have agreed to merge the multi-camera technology of Light with Sony’s powerful imaging sensors to launch new “multi-camera applications,” particularly for smartphones with over four cameras. The current market has witnessed the presence of many smartphones with three cameras on their back like Samsung Galaxy S10 or LG V40 ThinQ. Phone makers are likely to develop their own smartphones with more than four camera lenses in the future.

According to the agreement’s terms, Light is able to work with other smartphone makers to create multi-camera reference designs utilizing Sony’s sensors. The company will produce its underlying camera design to provide it to other makers. The agreement benefits both companies.

Many current makers rely on the sensors of Sony in their smartphones, even Sony Mobile itself. Sony has spent billions of dollars on developing its imaging sensors for the past few years. And last summer, it launched the IMX586, its 48MP camera sensor. Currently, the company is still competing with its main rival, Samsung. Its cooperation with Light probably helps it gain more advantages because there is an increasing amount of phone makers want to set their devices apart through advanced camera features.

The company says its mobile chipset is the only one which is able to capture photos with up to six cameras at once worldwide. It has already partnered with makers of lens component and SoC.

Light revealed that it also cooperated with other companies and planned to announce in the upcoming MWC taking place in Barcelona.