SOMETHING as simple as taking a photo or a video of a car could break your phone’s camera.
It may seem harmless, but if the vehicle is fairly new, it could have a LiDAR sensor – which is used to detect objects and estimate distances.
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These sensors are used in automated driving and some safety features.
But they are not safe for your smartphone’s camera’s sensor.
A viral video on Reddit, from u/Jeguetelli, has shown 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.
It’s not just a glitch – it actually causes physical and permanent damage to the camera sensor.
So those colourful specks 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.
If a smartphone camera is brought to close to a LiDAR sensor, or if they zoom in close, the gadget is at risk of burn-in damage.
Smartphone owners can manage to avert any camera crisis by using a wide lens.
As shown in the viral clip, the damage only occurs when the Redditor’s phone switches over to its telephoto lens mode.
The camera shows no damage in the first or last section of the video, when the phone has switched to a wider angle.
Volvo has previously warned consumers of the affects of LiDAR systems.
“Do not point a camera directly at the lidar,” Volvo writes in a help page on its website.
“The lidar, being a laser based system, uses infrared light waves that may cause damage to certain camera devices. This can include smartphones or phones equipped with a camera.”
However, the phenomenon is still catching people off guard.
LiDAR beams are highly regulated – so they won’t cause any damage to humans, even if they’re wreaking havoc on camera sensors.
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