Zoom on a Camera Phone is All Smoke and Mirrors

The megapixel count on camera phones may be increasing, but until we can get some decent zoom action in there, the pictures are going to leave much to be desired. That day may be sooner than we think.

Because phones are getting slimmer and sleeker, handset makers are getting less and less room to work with, so researchers at the University of California at San Diego have devised a mirror-based trick that effectively gives you some telephoto capabilities. The entire package of slimming mirrors is only a few millimeters thick.

The mirrors are used to “bounce light back and forth, lengthening the path light travels (which increases the potential for magnification) without bulking bulking up the length of the optic.”