OIS MIA for Samsung Galaxy S5?

One of the most desired features on a smartphone camera these days is OIS, or optical image stabilization. With OIS on your camera, videos you take will appear as steady as though you were using a tripod. Still pictures will lose the blur that can ruin a photograph. Obviously, many of Nokia's camera-centric high-end Lumia models offer OIS such as the Nokia Lumia 1020, Nokia Lumia 928, Nokia Lumia 925 and the upcoming Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet among others.

Turning to Android, while the LG G2 rear snapper does have OIS, the feature is not offered on the otherwise-specs rich Samsung Galaxy Note 3. And the reason could be the very same reason why you might not see those three initials on the Samsung Galaxy S5 specs sheet. According to a report out of Korea, it is the popularity of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the expected popularity of the Samsung Galaxy S5 that would make it hard for the Korean OEM to include OIS with the rear camera on both models. Samsung believes that its suppliers might not be able to keep up with the demand for the chip needed for OIS, so it dropped it from the snapper on its new phablet.

As for the next iteration of its Android flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S5, those in the know say that Samsung has been debating about whether or not to include OIS on the phone. It is ironic that a handset can be held back because of its own success. But Samsung does have a couple of options open to it. As important as OIS might be to flagship phones in 2014, Sammy could delay the Samsung Galaxy S5 until it is sure that it will be able to procure enough OIS chips from suppliers. Or, it might be able to move production of the chip in-house.

Remember when the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was supposed to have a fingerprint scanner? The chip developed by a third party could not meet Samsung's testing and the Korean tech giant is rumored to be producing the chip itself, which could begin mass production next year. So if Samsung thinks that its suppliers can't be trusted to fulfill OIS demand, that too might be moved in-house.

Earlier this month, Samsung said that it was working on a 13MP camera module with an "anti-shake" feature that sounds suspiciously similar to OIS. But it is not known if the entire module is being built with in-house parts or if Samsung is still relying on suppliers to build it. The module will allow for outstanding pictures in low-light conditions, the current battlefield for smartphone cameras. It it said to produce pictures 8 times brighter than current smartphone cameras.

Thanks, Anonymous Tipster

source: ETNews (translate) via GforGames