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Title: Lidar Can Permanently Damage Your Phone's Camera

Link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/05/23/20...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Jalopnik: With the gradual rise of
semi-autonomous vehicles, there will likely be multiple cameras pointing back
when you pull out a phone to take a photo or record video of a car. One
reddit user found out earlier this month that car-mounted lidar sensors can
damage a phone camera under certain circumstances. It was the technological
equivalent of staring directly into the Sun. Their phone's camera was toast,
but only because it was close-up and pointed directly at the lidar sensor.
Reddit user u/Jeguetelli posted worrying footage of a brand new Volvo EX90
from his iPhone 16 Pro Max. Nothing was wrong with the crossover SUV. That
was the problem. The lidar sensor mounted in a pod above the windshield shot
out a laser barrage of near-infrared light into the camera. The damage was
immediate and obvious, leaving behind a red, pink and purple constellation of
fried pixels. You can tell the permanent damage was to that specific lens
because the image returned to normal after zooming out to a different lens.
Jeguetelli didn't seem too concerned about the incident because he had Apple
Care. In a statement to The Drive, Volvo confirmed that bad things can
happen. "It's generally advised to avoid pointing a camera directly at a
lidar sensor," the Swedish manufacturer said. "The laser light emitted by the
lidar can potentially damage the camera's sensor or affect its performance."
"Using filters or protective covers on the camera lens can help reduce the
impact of lidar exposure. Some cameras are designed with built-in protections
against high-intensity light sources."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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