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Samsung patents foldable phone that switches cameras based on shape

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Samsung describes a device with a flexible screen and multiple cameras that automatically selects which lens to use. The processor checks the physical shape of the device to determine if it is in a specific state, then activates the appropriate camera to send image data to an app.

Why it mattersThis could improve camera usability on foldable phones by ensuring the correct lens is active regardless of how the device is folded or unfolded.

In the filing’s own words

An electronic device includes a plurality of cameras, a flexible display, and a processor. The processor controls the electronic device to execute an application, and identify that a request for acquiring image data via a first camera among the plurality of cameras has been generated from the application. The processor controls the electronic device to, in response to the identified request, initiate an operation of the first camera to acquire image data to be provided to the application, on the basis that state information of the electronic device, which is related to the form of the electronic device, indicates a first state. The processor controls the electronic device to, in response to the identified request, initiate an operation of a second camera, among the plurality of cameras, to acquire image data to be provided to the application, on the basis of the state information indicating a second state.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a plurality of cameras; a flexible display; a processor; and a memory for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executed by the processor so as to cause the electronic device to: execute an application; identify that a request for acquiring image data via a first camera among the plurality of cameras has been generated from the application; in response to the identified request, initiate an operation of the first camera to acquire the image data to be provided to the application, based on state information of the electronic device, which is related to a form of the electronic device, indicating a first state; and in response to the identified request, initiate an operation of a second camera, among the plurality of cameras, to acquire the image data to be provided to the application, based on the state information indicating a second state.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING CAMERA AND OPERATION METHOD THEREFOR
Publication number
US20260313245A1
Application number
19451103
Filed
Jan 16, 2026
Published
Oct 8, 2026
Inventors
4
Claims
20

Classified under

H04N 23/90 Electricity & electronicsG01B 7/30 Physics & computingG01D 5/145 Physics & computingG06F 1/1618 Physics & computingG06F 9/4806 Physics & computingH04N 23/51 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.