
ZTE announces the world’s first phone with a behind-the-screen camera - koolba
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/zte-announces-the-worlds-first-phone-with-a-behind-the-screen-camera/
======
everdrive
Innovation is going in the wrong direction. I'd love if smartphone providers
were building cameras with fancier camera covers, that the user could control.
The last thing I want is a camera behind the screen that I can't even see.

And yes, I know that some have suggested that this will fix the uncanny valley
effect during video calls by allowing viewers to look directly at each other
rather than upwards, towards a camera. This will not fix it. There are other
things causing this effect, such as latency, lighting, lack of a view of full
body posture, etc.

~~~
dTal
The main reason this particular iteration won't fix it is that it's right on
the screen edge, which will not coincide with your partner's eyes (or you'd be
cutting off their head). Also you would both need one in order to make eye
contact happen.

>There are other things causing this effect, such as latency, lighting, lack
of a view of full body posture, etc.

I don't believe this. The main uncanny effect is definitely that we're
constantly staring past each other, like we're distracted. Latency is bad, but
not nearly as bad as that.

------
ethagknight
I don’t really understand how the camera could work well when you have a row
of light emitters placed right in front of a row of light sensors. Seems like
any microabrasion or dust or smudge of grease on the area of the lens will
cause significant aberration, unless they simply cut off the leds in the area
around the lens while in use. It should have a similar effect to trying to
take a picture of snow falling at night with a flash: all you see is the
brightly illuminated noise up front

~~~
sudosysgen
They do turn off the leds when taking a picture.

It also serves as a kind of privacy saving feature, unless the area turns
black you know that no useful picture can be taken.

