LG today announced that its upcoming flagship, the LG G8 ThinQ, will feature Time-of-Flight technology for the selfie camera upfront. For this, LG has teamed up with Infineon Technologies and will be using its Real3 image sensor for the G8’s selfie camera.
The partnership and integration will allow the LG G8 ThinQ to deliver “a new level of front camera capability in a smartphone.” ToF sensors in smartphones are not new, with Honor using it on the View 20. Apple is also rumored to use a ToF sensor for the back camera of the iPhones in 2020 or later for AR/VR purposes. LG will likely use the ToF sensor in conjunction with the selfie camera to offer some Animoji-like effects, a more secure face unlocking experience, and some more AR/VR features. The use of a ToF sensor means that face unlock on the LG G8 will not be affected by ambient lighting conditions. Since the sensor maps one’s face in 3D, it does not have to rely much on the ambient lighting condition which means face unlock on the G8 should work just fine even in low-light conditions. LG will be unveiling the LG G8 ThinQ on February 20 at MWC 2019 in Barcelona.
