EXPLAINER: How could lasers damage our camera phones?

What started as an amazing creator con in Cebu quickly went downhill for Miranda when she encountered a problem with her phone’s camera.

“When I tried to take a picture, dun ko na nakita na sira na yung camera ko (that’s when I saw my camera). There were lines. And then, there was this little dot that looked pink or purple. I tried restarting my phone. But then the damage was still there,” Miranda said in Kuya Kim’s report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday.

She suspects that the lasers installed at the venue's entrance caused the damage to her phone.

“I literally just came from the entrance. You can only see the laser, the lighting machine. Hawak ko lang po yung phone nung pumasok ako (I’m just holding my phone when I entered). I didn't go anywhere else,” Miranda explained.

The incident was incredibly unfortunate for her, as it was the first phone she bought with her hard-earned money — and she isn't even finished paying for it yet.

In his report, Kuya Kim explained that the camera on cellphones has a Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor, or CMOS sensor.

Technical expert Rommel Jay Gadil said, “Ang mga sensors na ito ay gawa sa silicon at may mga microscopic na plastic components. Pag tinamaan ito ng direct event laser, nasisira talaga ang hardware.”

(These sensors are made of silicon and contain microscopic plastic components. When hit directly by an event laser, the hardware really gets damaged.)

Gadil explains that this is similar to what happens when we expose dry leaves to sunlight through a magnifying glass.

“Malalaman po natin ang laser ang nakasira, number one is yung point damage. Nakakita tayo ng permanenteng pink o white or purple na tuldok na tinatawag nating dead pixels… Hardware failure na po ito at kailangan ng palitan ng camera module,” Gadil said.

(Laser damage can be identified primarily through point damage. This appears as a permanent pink, white, or purple dot known as a dead pixel… This constitutes a hardware failure, requiring a full replacement of the camera module.)

Miranda shared her experience online and got similar experiences from netizens.

“I saw some other posts that some other people are also experiencing the same thing. My assumption with the lasers at the entrance were solidified,” she said.

According to Miranda, she had already reached out to the event organizers but had not yet received a reply.

In a deleted post, the organizers admitted they knew the entrance lasers had damaged the phone and camera sensors of several attendees and expressed their apologies for the incident.

In response, they removed all lasers from the entrance on the second day of the event.

In Kuya Kim’s report, a lawyer said the attendees whose cameras got damaged by the lasers during the event can file a complaint under Article 2176 of the Civil Code, as long as they can prove that the direct cause of the damage to their gadget was due to the fault or negligence of the event organizer.

Calling on event organizers, Gadil reminded them to strictly follow the safety standards of the International Laser Display Association, or ILDA.

“The standard rule is to project lasers at least 3 meters above the crowd para hindi tumama sa mga mata o camera (so it won’t hit the eyes or cameras),” he said. — Lyjah Tiffany Bonzo/BAP, GMA News