CES 2023: LG presents smartphone camera module with true optical zoom

LG is traveling to Las Vegas for CES 2023 with a number of new products. In addition to a air conditioner with integrated display and two new soundbars, LG Innotek has unveiled a new smartphone camera module that features true optical zoom and variable focal length.

LG Innotek with new smartphone camera module

After Sony with the Xperia 1 IV with true optical zoom, LG is now also working on a very similar solution with variable focal length. The manufacturer will present the new smartphone camera module at CES 2023, which has already been announced in a press release.

Compared to Sony, however, LG offers an even larger variable focal length range and wants to enable a magnification between 4x and 9x with the periscope zoom camera (with Sony, the focal length range is between a 3.5x and a 5.2x magnification).

According to LG, they want to prove once again with the new camera module that they are the frontrunner in the field of camera modules. The new Optical Telephoto Zoom Camera Module, as it is officially called, is to be fully unveiled at CES 2023 and has already been awarded the CES 2023 Innovation Award in advance.

Unlike most smartphone cameras, LG Innotek’s new module with a true optical zoom is said to offer more seamless magnification in combination with better image quality when filming, for example, as there is no digital cropping into the image here.

Camera module in compact form

Furthermore, LG Innotek promises that the compact form of the smartphone camera module will almost completely eliminate the well-known camera hump of many models. The design of the lenses and the structure of the module have been redesigned to create a compact shape.

At the same time, the telezoom camera is supposed to be even more robust, offer higher accuracy and consume less battery. The control of the built-in zoom motor is said to be in the micrometer range, while at the same time an optical image stabilizer (OIS) is supposed to ensure razor-sharp images – which is of course of crucial importance, especially at longer zoom distances.

LG’s new Optical Telephoto Zoom Camera Module is already officially supported by Qualcomm with their new smartphone SoC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. According to LG, they have worked closely together to adapt the software to the new smartphone camera module. Thus, they promise a “breathtaking image quality for photos and videos”.

Sounds very promising on paper and we are curious to see what the final result will look like. It won’t be too long until the presentation at CES 2023, which starts on January 5, 2023.

It is unclear in which smartphones the new camera module will be used. The first models with the new Snapdragon chip are too early for that. Presumably, new devices from fall 2023 will use LG’s zoom camera for the first time.