Exclusive: Your Smartphone Camera Could Get a Big Upgrade With This Tech

Metalenz has acquired Israeli start-up PxE Holographic Imaging, whose HoloCoder optical layer could help smartphone cameras capture more light and depth information. If the claimed gains translate into products, the technology could improve low-light photos and high-contrast scenes while reducing the need for separate depth-sensing components.

Conventional Bayer filters absorb about 60 per cent of incoming light to create colour. HoloCoder instead diffracts light towards the sensor’s pixels, which Metalenz says could let sensors collect up to 2.5 times more light, while also recording 3D depth. The acquisition terms were not disclosed, and the technology is not yet on the market; Metalenz says it has replicated the approach in its lab and has shipped more than 300 million metasurface optics.