LG patent shows 16-camera module on the back of the smartphone

LG has received a patent for a camera module for a smartphone, with the company providing an example of a hexadecimal camera, where the lenses are optionally positioned in a curved four-by-four grid.

The patent was assigned by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Nov. 20, after which it was published, as Let’s Go Digital has found. The patent, filed in 2014, describes a multi-lens camera with a controller that can generate moving images based on the images the different cameras capture.

In the explanation, LG gives an example of a camera module with sixteen lenses in a grid of four by four. It can be a convex or curvature arrangement to adjust the focus and field of view. LG describes how, for example, a teddy bear can be captured from different angles, in order to be able to move it in its entirety, or just its head, with a touchscreen.

The patent also describes possibilities for facial recognition and the ability to cut people from images. The implementation is reminiscent of the Light L16, which also offers sixteen cameras in a single mobile product, but to capture 52-megapixel images. As is usually the case with patent applications, there is no indication that LG is actually working on an actual product with the described technique.