Front-facing camera explained

Front-facing camera should not be confused with Front-facing camera comedy.

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

While not a dedicated front-facing camera, the Casio QV-10 digital camera featured a lens that rotated 180 degrees. Introduced in 1995 it was the first consumer digital camera with a color LCD display. This allowed for the user to point the camera at themself while viewing the LCD display.

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]

The first iPhone to include a front-facing camera was the iPhone 4.[14]

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.[15] [16] 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.[17] [18] [19] [20]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: front-facing camera Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia. pcmag.com. 2015-09-30.
  2. Web site: Front-Facing Camera definition (Phone Scoop). phonescoop.com. 2015-09-30.
  3. Web site: Front-facing camera | Article about front-facing camera by The Free Dictionary. encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com. 2015-09-30.
  4. Web site: Samsung Puts LCD Screens on the Front of New Cameras. www.techhive.com. 2009-08-13. 2016-06-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20160630042223/http://www.techhive.com/article/170162/samsung_tl225_tl220.html. dead.
  5. Web site: Nintendo Game Boy Camera. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/19980530121628/http://www.nintendo.com/gb/gb_camera/index.html. May 30, 1998. August 15, 2020. Nintendo Game Boy Camera.
  6. Web site: Camera phones: A look back and forward . . 11 May 2012 . 15 September 2019 . 9 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191009064125/https://www.computerworld.com/article/2473084/camera-phones--a-look-back-and-forward.html . dead .
  7. News: First mobile videophone introduced . 15 September 2019 . . May 18, 1999.
  8. Web site: NEC e606 - Full phone specifications. www.gsmarena.com. en-US. 2018-05-22.
  9. Web site: NEC e616 - Full phone specifications. www.gsmarena.com. en-US. 2018-05-22.
  10. Web site: Sony Ericsson Z1010 – World's First Phone with a Front-Facing Camera | Nerdeky.Com. nerdeky.com. 2015-09-30. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151022103947/http://www.nerdeky.com/history/sony-ericsson-z1010-%E2%80%93-world%E2%80%99s-first-phone-front-facing-camera. 2015-10-22.
  11. Web site: Motorola A835 specs. phonearena.com. 2015-09-30.
  12. News: Quito. Anne. Front-facing cameras were never intended for selfies. 26 October 2017. Quartz. 26 October 2017.
  13. Web site: Motorola A920 - Full phone specifications. www.gsmarena.com. 2019-02-11.
  14. Web site: Korn . Jennifer . Barbier . Marie . 2023-09-11 . A look back at every iPhone ever . 2024-07-18 . CNN . en.
  15. Web site: RIP pop-up selfie cameras. We hardly knew ye.. Tristan. Rayner. April 4, 2020. May 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200427195452/https://www.androidauthority.com/rip-pop-up-selfie-camera-1094655/. April 27, 2020. live.
  16. Web site: Samsung's Galaxy A80 is an automated notchless slider with a rotating triple camera. Jon. Porter. April 10, 2019. The Verge. April 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190412050956/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/4/10/18304378/samsungs-galaxy-a80-release-date-specs-price-features. April 12, 2019. live.
  17. Web site: Want under-display cameras? Sorry to burst your bubble, says Xiaomi. January 30, 2020. Android Central.
  18. Web site: Oppo's under-display camera means we can finally stop arguing about notches. December 11, 2019. May 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200410052418/https://www.androidauthority.com/oppo-under-display-camera-tech-innovation-day-1065024/. April 10, 2020. live.
  19. Web site: Hands-on with Oppo's under-display camera prototype. December 11, 2019. May 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200428024809/https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/11/hands-on-with-oppos-under-display-camera-prototype/. April 28, 2020. live.
  20. Web site: Second proof of concept of under-display camera, but won't come to iPhone soon. Ben. Lovejoy. February 28, 2020. 9to5Mac. May 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200301200017/https://9to5mac.com/2020/02/28/under-display-camera/. March 1, 2020. live.

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