Blurry iPhone photos? Not if Apple has anything to say about it

Users of iPhones and iPads may finally say goodbye to blurry photos, if a patent filing by Apple Inc. is translated to reality.

 

The patent filing has the camera continuously capturing and storing images in a buffer until the user releases the shutter, enthusiast site AppleInsider said.

 

"While smartphones like the iPhone have relatively high-quality camera systems, the products are not purpose-built for picture taking and come with a multitude of compromises. For example, a smartphone's optics and imaging sensor are minuscule compared to modern equivalents seen in full-size DSLRs and pocketable point-and-shoots. The lack of a powerful image processor and other vital components just add to the challenge of getting high quality photographs from a handset's camera," it said.

 

In Apple's patent filing, the system will select the best picture from the stored buffer images, based on predetermined variables.

 

Dubbed "Image capturing device having continuous image capture," the patent application was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in October 2012.

 

The patent application lists Ralph Brunner, Nikhil Bhogal and James David Batson as its inventors.

 

Under the patent filing, Apple's system starts up when a user launches a photo app like Camera.

 

The system will capture and store sequential full-resolution images to a buffer.

 

When the shutter is pressed or the screen is touched, the system will choose from the buffer one image "based on when it was captured, its quality, or a combination of the two."

 

Memory is also conserved by having the system purge the buffer. — TJD, GMA News