According to South Korean technology blog TheElec, Samsung may skip the 3D ToF function on the Galaxy S21, which will appear in the flagship product lineup next year. It is said that the main reason for removing this feature is the current lack of “killer features” using ToF.
This feature first appeared on Samsung mobile phones last year, first landed on the Galaxy S10, and later appeared on the Galaxy Note10. Samsung also introduced the Galaxy S20 series with ToF sensors.
There is speculation that Samsung will place ToF in its flagship smartphones to compete with the flagship smartphones of Apple and Huawei. However, this feature has not been as successful as Apple because it uses an indirect ToF sensor, unlike Apple’s use of direct ToF through a LiDAR sensor on its iPad Pro tablet.
Samsung’s ToF module measures the distance by calculating the phase difference when light sine waves are emitted to an object and when they bounce. This method requires strong light with a large wavelength width, but the long-distance accuracy will decrease. Samsung’s ToF has a range of 3 meters. In contrast, Apple’s ToF range is 6 meters.
The direct ToF image sensor is only manufactured by Sony, and Sony has an exclusive agreement with Apple. Due to this situation, Samsung could not use these sensors and instead purchased an indirect ToF image sensor from a Japanese company.
Samsung’s system LSI business is said to be developing a direct ToF module. The South Korean technology giant may reconsider applying ToF in the future.
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