Revolutionizing Smartphone Photography: Meet the Game-Changing Mini Sensor!

If you’ve been capturing portrait images on your smartphone for several years, you’ll realize that most devices have improved significantly. As the technology in smartphone cameras has progressed, so too has the capability of manufacturers to better capture depth information. Consequently, we are able to create portrait images with enhanced bokeh and clarity.

Nonetheless, there remains considerable room for improvement, particularly as each smartphone produces vastly different portrait results. Just last week, at CES 2025, I encountered a novel holographic technology that promises significant advancements and could herald a new era in smartphone portrait photography. Let’s delve into how it operates and everything you ought to be aware of regarding it.

Understanding How PxE’s Holographic Technology Functions

The central challenge in smartphone portrait photography lies in depth information. When a manufacturer is adept at recognizing depth accurately, it can leverage this data into the image signal processor (ISP), ensuring precise detection of every hair strand or intricate detail.

This technique operates by conceptualizing light as waves instead of the conventional light rays utilized in classical photography. This methodology enables the capture of an exponentially greater amount of data, particularly as the traditional Bayer filter has been supplanted by the PxE HoloCoder. The outcome is a significantly enhanced comprehension of depth information.

The sensor itself is remarkably small, yet to illustrate its capabilities, the company integrated it into a camera to demonstrate the precision of its depth information. The result is accuracy to the thousandth decimal, even over extended distances.

During the presentation, the company showcased how the sensor detects objects at varying focal lengths and assigns different colors to each subject depending on their proximity to the camera. A red outline indicates closeness, followed by yellow, green, and blue for items further away.

Is this reliable? The most compelling case is its ability to detect micro movements when leaning against a wall. Even when we think we’re perfectly still, the camera can sense those subtle movements that are almost invisible to the naked eye. It is this technology that has immense potential to refine smartphone portrait photography.

In what ways could this enhance smartphone photography?

The primary advantage of this holographic technology lies in its capacity to collect depth information in a previously unattainable manner. For instance, we have all encountered portrait images where hair strands are focused to varying extents; however, this technology can capture micro details distinctly enough to recognize hair strands, even from a distance.

Although this presents incredible prospects for enhancing portrait photography, it equally holds promise for elevating all facets of mobile photography. For example, the instantaneous information gathered by the holographic sensor and its precision to the thousandth decimal, even amidst movement, signifies substantial potential to improve imagery of dynamic subjects.

We’ve all captured photographs of someone or something slightly in motion — or when we ourselves have been moving — resulting in images that are somewhat out of focus. PxE’s innovation could assist in rectifying this issue — particularly for moving subjects — as it can capture all these nuances. Directly applying this to the camera sensor ensures that the data feeds into the raw information processed by the ISP. Although it will depend on smartphone manufacturers’ capability to utilize this data, it possesses significant potential to enhance smartphone photography.

When can we expect to see this on smartphones?

I inquired with the founders regarding when we might anticipate the appearance of this technology in smartphones and the nature of that process. Their response was somewhat intricate, yet the company aspires to integrate this into smartphones in the forthcoming years.

Given that the typical smartphone development timeline averages around two years, it’s reasonable to conclude that we probably won’t encounter this for at least that duration, although the precise timeline could be even more distant. Specifically, the company intends to collaborate with Sony and Samsung — who produce the majority of camera sensors utilized in phones — along with device manufacturers and chipset developers like MediaTek and Qualcomm, ensuring its integration across all facets of the smartphone experience.

Developing a smartphone is a multifaceted task, and merely incorporating this technology into the sensor wouldn’t suffice to fully harness its capabilities; leveraging this depth information necessitates cooperation among every participant in the smartphone development process. Nonetheless, there are numerous other use cases beyond smartphone photography.

Other applications beyond smartphone photography

For numerous years, we have been introduced to the concept of smart cities of the future, where self-driving vehicles communicate with their surroundings, and this innovation holds significant promise in facilitating the arrival of this future. The primary challenge thus far has been precision, and PxE technology could greatly enhance the accuracy of the information obtained.

Additionally, consider the automotive sector, where, as illustrated in this video, this technology could significantly advance autonomous driving capabilities. Integrating this into camera sensors in vehicles could allow them to gather reliable depth information regarding the distance to the vehicle ahead, ensuring they know precisely when to decelerate or when it is safe to accelerate again. Moreover, it could enhance the accuracy of object and hazard detection, addressing a critical issue prevalent in most current autonomous driving solutions.

Finally, envision this being utilized in the scientific arena. The PxE website discusses potential applications in precision imaging, such as in microscopy. The camera demonstrated at CES could be readily adapted for a wide range of uses, particularly as it offers an all-in-one solution.

Why is this so exciting?

The reasoning is quite apparent: similar to how smartphone photography has progressed from one iteration to the next, this breakthrough could herald the new era of smartphone imaging. A period defined by holographic information presents a multitude of potential uses and, importantly, could drastically enhance smartphone photography quality.

Natural bokeh, improved portrait capturing, and an enhanced understanding of object data all signify its potential to elevate every aspect of smartphone photography. While it may require several years, I am eager for this next chapter in imaging to materialize.