Most front-facing phone cameras suck. It’s not their fault though: they have to be squeezed in to a tiny gap, which puts obvious limits on their geometry. Fortunately, this new Omnivision sensor squeezes a lot more performance into that minuscule frame.
The new OV2724 shoehorns a 1080p sensor into a component that’s just 5mm by 5mm by 3.5mm — which should make it small enough to equip phones with HD front-facing cameras. Not only that: it can also record footage of that resolution at 60 frames per second, and the sensor offers impressive dynamic range too.
Sadly, the sensor doesn’t go into production until mid-year — so we won’t see phones packing respectable front-facing cameras until the end of the year. [Omnivision via Engadget]