“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday awarded Apple a patent for a camera system that uses a microlens adaptor to enable refocusing of an image after the initial shot is taken, much like the Lytro light-field camera,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 8,593,564 for a ‘Digital camera including refocusable imaging mode adaptor,’ describes a method in which a user can take a picture at a certain resolution and refocus the resulting image after the fact. Also noted in the patent is the inclusion of such a system in portable devices, like an iPhone,” Campbell reports. “The patent describes a plenoptic camera, otherwise known as a ‘light-field camera,’ that uses a microlens array in the form of an adaptor rather than a fixed and integrated component as seen on what is arguably the most famous consumer light field camera, the Lytro.”
Much more, including Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, Apple’s isn’t too Lytro-like and is, instead, much more than a gimmicky poor-quality camera.