Front-facing camera

Last updated
Front-facing camera with connector of LG Optimus L7 II LG P710 Optimus L7 II - CCD front-facing camera with connector-7048.jpg
Front-facing camera with connector of LG Optimus L7 II

A front-facing camera, commonly known as a selfie camera, is a common feature of cameras, mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and some handheld video game consoles. While stand-alone cameras face forward, away from the operator, tablets, smartphones and similar mobile devices typically have a camera facing the operator to allow taking a self-portrait photograph or video while looking at the display of the device, usually showing a live preview of the image. These are called front-facing cameras and are important for videotelephony and the taking of selfies. [1] [2] [3] [4] Often, the preview image is by default a mirror image, which is more intuitive for most people; this default can be overridden, and in any case the recorded image is not reversed.

History

Perhaps the first front-facing camera on a hand-held device was the Game Boy Camera, released in Japan in February 1998. The Game Boy Camera was an attachment for Game Boy. [5]

The first front-facing camera phone was the Kyocera Visual Phone VP-210, released in Japan in May 1999. [6] It was called a "mobile videophone" at the time, [7] and had a 110,000-pixel front-facing camera. [6] It stored up to 20 JPEG digital images, which could be sent over e-mail, or the phone could send up to two images per second over Japan's Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) wireless cellular network. [6]

Several mobile phones with front-facing cameras were released to Western markets in 2003, including the NEC e606, [8] NEC e616, [9] Sony Ericsson Z1010 [10] and Motorola A835. [11] The front-facing camera was originally intended for video-conferencing. [12] The Motorola A920 was released in 2003 as well and may have been the first smartphone with a front-facing camera. [13]

In May 2017, the Essential Phone introduced the notch - the removal of part of the display to accommodate the front-facing camera. The iPhone X popularized this concept after its introduction in late 2017. As of 2019, several smartphones incorporate front cameras that pop up from within the smartphone to allocate the area that would be otherwise utilized by notches to the screen. [14] [15] Under-display cameras are under development, which would place a camera under a special display that would allow the camera to see through the display. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartphone</span> Handheld mobile telephone/computer

A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software, internet, and multimedia functionality, alongside core phone functions such as voice calls and text messaging. Smartphones typically contain a number of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) chips, include various sensors that can be leveraged by pre-included and third-party software, and support wireless communications protocols.

Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd, doing business as OPPO, is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong. Its major product lines include smartphones, smart devices, audio devices, power banks, and other electronic products.

The form factor of a mobile phone is its size, shape, and style, as well as the layout and position of its major components.

Lenovo smartphones are marketed as the "LePhone" in Mainland China and the "IdeaPhone" overseas. Motorola Mobility, ZUK Mobile and Medion, divisions of Lenovo, sell smartphones under their own brands. As of September 2015, Lenovo is in the process of rebranding most of its phones using the Motorola brand name.

The HTC Desire 601 is an Android smartphone designed and manufactured by HTC. The Desire 601 is a mid-range device carrying design traits from the HTC One and One Mini, utilizing a dual-core processor, 4.5-inch qHD display, and offering LTE support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moto X Play</span> Android smartphone developed by Motorola Mobility

Moto X Play is an Android smartphone developed by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. Unveiled on July 28, 2015, it was one of three devices that succeeded the second-generation Moto X. In contrast to the high-end Moto X Style, the Play is a mid-range device distinguished by its high battery capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oppo R15 Pro</span> Android Smartphone from Oppo

The OPPO R15 Pro is a phablet smartphone based on Android 8.1, which was unveiled in March 2018.

Oppo phones are smartphones produced by the partially state-owned Chinese company Oppo, running in several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oppo F9</span> Android Smartphone from Oppo

The OPPO F9 is the 2018 smartphone from the OPPO F series launched in August 2018. The OPPO F9 features a waterdrop notch design, and is equipped with VOOC fast charging technology. It has a screen to body ratio of 90.8%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oppo R17</span> Android Smartphone from Oppo

The Oppo R17 is a line of Android phablets manufactured by Oppo. It comprises the Oppo R17, R17 Pro, and R17 Neo, which were officially unveiled on August 23, 2018 for the Chinese market. The R17 was the first smartphone to receive Oppo's "Hyper Boost Acceleration Engine," which provides improvements in gaming performance, system, and app usage.

The Oppo F5 and the Oppo F5 Youth are both smartphones manufactured by the Chinese tech company Oppo Electronics Corporation. The F5 was released in October 2017, whilst the F5 Youth was released in November 2017, under Oppo's F Series. The series began in January 2016, with the release of the Oppo F1, delivering succeeding smartphones on a 6-month time interval with alternative variants such as the F3 Plus and F5 Youth. These phones have a heavy emphasis on the capabilities of its front-facing camera.

The Vivo NEX Dual Display is an Android smartphone which was launched on 11 December 2018. Given the tendency in the late 2010s toward bezelless displays, instead of trimming the display with a notch or hole for housing a front camera and face recognition sensor, it opts to use two screens. Selfies and videocalls are made with the main camera and the rear display as viewfinder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moto G7</span> Android smartphone developed by Motorola Mobility

Moto G7 is a series of Android smartphones developed by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. It is the seventh generation of the Moto G family and was first released on 7 February 2019. As with the last generations which introduced the Plus and Play variants, this series has introduced the Power variant as well. There are 4 variants in the seventh series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oppo R7s</span> Android smartphone model by OPPO

OPPO R7s is a line of Android-based smartphone manufactured by Oppo that were released in October, 2015. OPPO R7 series has all-metal flashing, the fit and finish and the arcs towards its display edges. OPPO Company developed after OPPO R5s. However, the phone was discontinued with the release of more developed version like OPPO R15 and OPPO R17. The phone offers an improved screen, battery and design comparing to the previous phones. Reviewer had a mix review. Its design and battery quality were universally praised, also, its display received the positive feedback after tests. Reviews had both positive and negative comments, with no finger print sensor or face ID like Apple system. This would result insecurity of personal privacy.

Oppo Reno2 is a line of Android smartphones manufactured by Oppo as the successor to the Oppo Reno series. Launched on 28 August 2019 in India, it comprises the Oppo Reno2, Reno2 F, and Reno2 Z. Like their flagship predecessors, the Reno2 phones feature pop-up selfie cameras to provide edge-to-edge displays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oppo F1</span> Android smartphone by Oppo Electronics

The Oppo F1 is an Android smartphone manufactured by Oppo Electronics that was released in January 2016. The phone featured a 5 in (130 mm) touchscreen display, Android 5.1 (Lollipop) operating system, and microSD card support for up to an additional 256GB of storage. This is the first phone in Oppo's F series.

The OPPO A9 2020, along with OPPO A5 2020, are the successors to the OPPO A series. It was launched on 11 September 2019 in India and equipped with 48MP Ultra Wide Quad Camera, 5000 mAh Ultra Battery and reverse charging capability.

iQOO is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong. The company was founded on 30 January 2019 as a subsidiary of the consumer electronics manufacturer Vivo based in the same city.

References

  1. ↑ "front-facing camera Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia". pcmag.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  2. ↑ "Front-Facing Camera definition (Phone Scoop)". phonescoop.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  3. ↑ "Front-facing camera | Article about front-facing camera by The Free Dictionary". encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  4. ↑ "Samsung Puts LCD Screens on the Front of New Cameras". www.techhive.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  5. ↑ "Nintendo Game Boy Camera". Nintendo Game Boy Camera. Archived from the original on May 30, 1998. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "Camera phones: A look back and forward". Computerworld . 11 May 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "First mobile videophone introduced". CNN. May 18, 1999. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "NEC e606 - Full phone specifications". www.gsmarena.com. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  9. ↑ "NEC e616 - Full phone specifications". www.gsmarena.com. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  10. ↑ "Sony Ericsson Z1010 – World's First Phone with a Front-Facing Camera | Nerdeky.Com". nerdeky.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-22. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  11. ↑ "Motorola A835 specs". phonearena.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  12. ↑ Quito, Anne (26 October 2017). "Front-facing cameras were never intended for selfies". Quartz . Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Motorola A920 - Full phone specifications". www.gsmarena.com. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  14. ↑ Rayner, Tristan (April 4, 2020). "RIP pop-up selfie cameras. We hardly knew ye". Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  15. ↑ Porter, Jon (April 10, 2019). "Samsung's Galaxy A80 is an automated notchless slider with a rotating triple camera". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Want under-display cameras? Sorry to burst your bubble, says Xiaomi". Android Central. January 30, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Oppo's under-display camera means we can finally stop arguing about notches". December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Hands-on with Oppo's under-display camera prototype". December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  19. ↑ Lovejoy, Ben (February 28, 2020). "Second proof of concept of under-display camera, but won't come to iPhone soon". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on March 1, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.