29 March 2007

What would you like to see improved or added on the N95 successor?

Xenon flash lamp being fired.

What would you like to see improved or added or changed on the N95 successor? The powerful xenon flash is definitely something that I'd love to eventually see on my next Symbian phone.

Of course it isn’t on the first position on my wish list but that’s what I’m waiting since the Nokia 7650.

In my personal opinion Xenon Flash modules are a welcome addition and should provide a real boost to mobile photography. Why settle for an inferior LED illumination source in mobile phone cameras?

Please Nokia produce a phone with flash that can take clear pictures in low light or backlit conditions, such as in restaurants, bars clubs or other places where people socialize and where we want to use our lovely camera phones on proper way, just like the standard point and shoot cameras.

Sure, xenon flash has some downsides, it requires bulky electrolytic storage capacitor required for xenon flash units, it could takes a long time to recharge between flashes, it drains battery fast and last but not the least it cannot be used for the video recording. Therefore Nokia should keep led flash for the video recording, for enlightening the object while focusing in the lower lighting conditions or for the torch purpose and add a xenon flash for the still imaging.

Below is the solution that I have found over at our forum section but I guess that Nokia already testing something similar in their research labs.

PerkinElmer Optoelectronics has introduced its new Trim Xe family of Xenon Flash products at the 2006 Sight Future of Imaging Conference.

"With the introduction of PerkinElmer’s new Trim Xe product-line, the Mobile Phone Industry can for the first time match DSC photographic image quality in a trim package that fits the requirements for today’s ultra-slim mobile phones. Until now, phone handset manufacturers and consumers had to settle for an inferior light source in their mobile phone cameras," said John Tan, Vice President and General Manager for Consumer Electronics, PerkinElmer Optoelectronics.

The new Trim Xe product family provides many enhancements over the previous generation of Xenon products. The Trim Xe line benefits from a 35% reduction in module size compared to prior generation Xenon products, having lamp diameters of 1.3 mm. In addition, Xenon Flash provides 1000 times greater brightness than typical LEDs in consumer photography applications and enables greater than 100 times faster shutter speed and shorter exposure time than with LEDs. Xenon Flash technology provides a wider and more uniform light distribution than LEDs as well as a color temperature closer to natural sunlight.

"We’ve been tracking PerkinElmer’s efforts for a couple of years now to reduce the size and power requirements for Xenon Flash modules and make them appropriate for camera-phone applications," said Tony Henning, Senior Analyst for Mobile Imaging at Future Image. "Their hard work has paid off with this new Trim Xe family of flash products. The size and cost constraints placed on camera modules for mobile phones — especially the current crop of super slim fashion phones — means those tiny cameras are typically starved for light. Xenon Flash modules are a welcome addition and should provide a real boost for mobile photography."