Do you want your mobile phone to also have a 10-20 times telephoto, so that you can capture the toes of athletes in large football matches? Maybe this technology will appear in 2019.
Big Screen Jun recently noticed that Huawei’s new mobile phone Mate 30, which will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2019, is rumored to use 10x zoom technology to achieve “telephoto” photography for mobile phone products for the first time. The black technology that realizes this leap is not only the "liquid lens" technology - the latter has many application cases in astronomy, endoscopy and other fields, and is known as the most advanced "optical processing technology" in humankind for thousands of years. A revolutionary "innovation one".
Regarding the news about Huawei’s black technology, Huawei first disclosed this new patent in November 2018. In this regard, industry commentators believe that this shows that the patented technology has matured and experimental products have been developed. In January 2019, there was news that "supply chain" manufacturers had confirmed the "liquid lens" technology of Huawei's new machine, once again "a sure thing" for the application of this black technology.
In this regard, Big Screen Jun feels that even if there is no application of "liquid lens" in 2019, at least this information is enough to show that "the consumer electronics industry such as mobile phones" is seriously considering liquid lens technology. If this technology is applied to mass products such as mobile phones, it will have a huge promotion effect on the development of "liquid optical processing equipment" - under the scale value, cost reduction and performance improvement will be more promising. Such changes will inevitably have a profound impact on "projection", another device that relies more heavily on optical processing.
Lens - the "King" in the projection system
How important is the optical lens to the projector? Most people only think that a lens is needed to "project and enlarge" the picture. In fact, the light source processing part inside the projector also requires an optical lens. That is, a projector has at least two sets of independently working lens systems in the optical path. Therefore, Dapingjun said that the technological revolution of optical lenses is, in a sense, the "application revolution" of projectors.
In the past 10 years, there have been three main categories of technological innovations in projector products: The first is the innovation of new light sources such as LED, laser and HLD, which have enabled efficient and long-lasting solid-state light source applications and changed the cost of light source consumables. Dilemma. The second is the innovation of 4K display technology - however, this technological progress is not very impressive, and it has not been fully popularized until today. The third is the innovation of the lens system: on the one hand, the new solid-state light source itself requires the redesign of the lens product of the light source processing optical path; on the other hand, short-focus lenses, especially reflective short-throw lenses, have greatly changed the Projector application scenarios.
For example, the most fundamental change of the currently popular "laser TV" product is the use of optical anti-light curtains and "ultra-short throw reflection technology." On the contrary, whether to use a laser light source is not "a necessary technology for this TV experience." Theoretically, ultra-short throw reflective lens technology comes from the internal imaging optical path of "rear projection TV". However, for today's ultra-short throw reflective lenses, the 50-70-inch projection area of ??traditional rear-projection TVs is not enough - in fact, most laser TV products project images up to more than 100 inches, with an area exceeding Two 70-inch TV screens.
Therefore, big-screen fans must point out that today’s ultra-short-throw reflective lenses have inherited the creative lens and optical path design inside rear-projection TVs, but they are also “absolutely extreme” short-throw lenses. Reflection” engineering products. The success of this product has also changed the application form of projectors, creating new application value in the home, engineering, and education markets.
Dapingjun’s analysis of the changes in projection technology in the past 10 years shows that the advancement of “optical lenses” is an “important” innovation point in the projection industry, and even a “revolutionary” innovation point— —The new category of laser TV is the best proof. And if the "liquid lens" can be successfully applied on a large scale, the world of projection will also undergo new changes.
Liquid lens, which one is better?
Judging from the current news, Huawei’s liquid lens technology is more about “realizing telephoto zoom for mobile phone cameras.” Having greater zoom capabilities isn't the only advantage of liquid lenses, though. Regarding the technical advantages of liquid lenses, Daping Jun has the following summary:
First, the focal length is more flexible - although what mobile phones need most is a liquid lens to bring telephoto effect, but the impact of liquid lenses on focal length Not only the "telephoto", but also the "short focus" end and the ability to adjust the aperture. In other words, the "concave and convex" curvature of the liquid lens in the liquid lens is electrically adjustable, which can flexibly realize a wide range of short focus, telephoto, and large and small aperture changes. To achieve this change with traditional lenses, a large number of optical lenses with complex structures and difficult processing are required. This, for projectors, means that short-throw products may be able to further innovate.
Second, the cost is cheaper - the cost of traditional lenses is mainly reflected in the processing of "lens lenses". Liquid lenses can reduce the amount of lenses used and do not require precise optical polishing, so their costs are naturally more "cheap". For the projection industry, most micro projectors use 1.2:1 fixed-focus lenses. The reason is that "short focus, telephoto, zoom" all mean cost-1.2:1 lenses are the best cost and Use scene matching. However, if the liquid lens matures, micro-projection can achieve short focus, telephoto and zoom effects at the same time at low cost.
Third, faster focusing speed - whether it is a mobile phone camera, a digital camera, or a projection lens, all have to face focusing problems. Whether the focusing speed is fast is one of the most important experience values. The liquid lens is completely based on high-speed control of electromagnetic principles, which can achieve millimeter-level fast focusing without the noise and vibration of electric lenses, or the problem of virtual focus caused by mechanical wear of electric lenses. This will be very useful for all projection application scenarios.
Fourth, smaller volume and space - the liquid lens does not necessarily use one liquid lens, it may be multiple. But in any case, the curvature variability of the liquid lens itself has changed the only way that traditional lens zoom relies on spatial distance adjustment (of course, Dapingjun believes that liquid lenses can also be used in conjunction with the distance adjustment method), and it can also greatly reduce the "lens The use of "group" reduces the number of glass lenses, and there is almost no need to worry about the smoothness of the optical surface in terms of image quality. These changes mean that liquid lenses are smaller and lighter than optical glass lenses when achieving the same functions - this is one of the reasons why mobile phone companies are the first to take a fancy to this technology. For projectors, although the lens is not the key to "weight and volume", manufacturers will not mind a lighter design.
In short, I think the advantages of liquid lenses are really great. While inheriting all the achievements and experiences of traditional optical design without changing the internal structure of the end product, relying on changes in lens technology and control mechanisms, liquid lenses can achieve many functions that were previously difficult to achieve - in fact, these magical applications There are quite a few:
The magical applications of liquid lenses
The first liquid lens case that Dapingjun found is a model of "saving money". Scientists at the University of Columbia (UBC) in the United Kingdom have developed the 236-inch (6-meter) diameter Liquid Launch Telescope (LMT). As the world's 13th largest reflecting telescope, its reflective surface is made of a container filled with mercury at 5RPM. formed by rotating at a speed. ——The cost of building this telescope is only about US$1 million, while it would cost about US$100 million to build a telescope of the same size using traditional technology. The liquid parabolic lens directly saved the project 99% of the cost. Scientists say that this technology may allow ordinary people to use "top-notch" optical astronomical telescopes in the future. Canada and the United States have also built similar astronomical telescopes.
The second application case of liquid lens is "high-speed shooting".
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the United States have designed and tested an adaptive liquid camera lens that can capture 250 images per second and requires less energy to drive than other camera technologies. The research results were published in Nature~ Photonics" (a top international journal) magazine. And researchers believe that the focus drive of this lens can reach 100,000 times per second at the fastest.
The third case is the liquid lens case “closest to consumers”. At CeBIT 2004, Samsung demonstrated a Liquid Lens camera module for mobile phones, which used Varioptic's patent. According to reports, the camera module can be made thinner by using a liquid lens, and the lens does not require physical movement, thus greatly reducing power consumption. In addition, Sony and Olympus have also registered many patents on liquid lenses. At present, Yaoying Optoelectronics can already provide a large number of liquid lens products to customers including medical.
In short, what I want to say is that the liquid lens is not a new technology and has a long history of research and development and many use cases; however, the liquid lens is still a cutting-edge technology that requires continuous product development and innovation. . Especially when used in projectors, traditional cameras and cameras, liquid lenses also need to break through technical limitations such as large size.
However, any disruptive technological progress cannot be "completed in a day", and even those technologies once seemed "completely fantasy". However, in the end, so many amazing technologies and products were born! I believe the same will be true for liquid lenses. And its large-scale application in scenarios such as mobile phones and other consumer electronics, and artificial vision in IoT smart devices will be the starting point for its technology to enter a rapid explosive stage. In 2019, maybe we will be able to witness this miracle.
On this basis, Dapingjun firmly believes that the liquid lens, just like any other optical technology advancement that revolutionizes projectors, will be an important support for the upgrading and innovation of the projection industry in the future—— Especially for micro-investment products, the probability of this technology being first applied and mature is very high, and it is also necessary to improve the product experience value. We have every reason to expect that liquid lens projectors will become commonplace one day in the future.