PARTYGOERS have been warned over a popular dancefloor gadget that could ‘ruin’ their smartphone cameras this summer.
Laser lights are a common feature at weddings, concerts and festivals.
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But poor management of them can break your pricey smartphone.
“I was at a party last night and the DJ had a laser light of some kind, whilst filming a friend… I noticed the image went all grainy and [a] pinkish/purplish colour,” one Reddit user said.
“I immediately stopped recording and quit/restarted the camera app, hoping it was a glitch but the image was still the same.
“I then tried restarting my phone and also tried another camera app but the camera seems to have been ruined.”
The Reddit poster, u_JohnnieWalker-, says they own an iPhone 14 Pro, and shared images of what their camera looked like after the laser shined on it.
Everything through the lens is fuzzy and awash with colourful hues.
It might seem artsy and fun, if the issue wasn’t permanent.
Party lasers can fry camera sensors in smartphones because they are intense beams of light that can heat up the sensor.
While it is uncommon, this can happen.
They don’t just damage smartphone camera sensors either, but traditional photography cameras too.
Sony urges customers to not directly expose their cameras to laser beams.
“They may damage the image sensor and cause the camera to malfunction,” the camera maker writes in a support page on its website.
“If you’re in an environment with a laser display, whether indoor or outdoor, with direct or indirect exposure (bouncing laser beams of a reflective object), the damage to the camera CMOS sensor is still severe.
“This damage can also occur if your camera is off but not covered by the lens cap.”
Party lasers are not typically pointed into crowds, or at eye level, out of precaution.
While the concentrated beams of light can damage cameras, they can also cause permanent eye damage when exposed for a long period.
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LiDAR sensors found in newer cars can also cause the same invisible, but permanent damage.
These sensors, which can detect objects and estimate distances, are used in automated driving and some safety features.
A video that went viral on Reddit in April, from u/Jeguetelli, showed a Volvo EX90’s LiDAR system ruining the smartphone filming it.
Colourful specks start appearing on the screen, as the LiDAR sensor appears to be “frying” the camera in real-time.
In both instances, the colourful specks and hue the camera adopts after laser damage will be there forever – unless you take your device to the repair shop.
LiDAR sensors work by shooting a constant stream of infrared lasers out into the world, which a computer uses to 3D reconstruct the car’s surroundings, including any nearby objects.
While humans can’t see these laser beams, camera sensors are very sensitive to them.
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iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best…
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen, then tap in the bar and type a currency (like €200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you’re due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you’re down to 80% capacity. If you’re below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
