STMicro thinks 40W LED flashes in smartphone cameras are the future

While our smartphone camera flashes are a welcome addition and an upgrade from back when smartphone cameras did not come with flashes, it seems like STMicro thinks we could do better (we guess we could) by boosting our smartphone’s LED flash up to 40W.

At the moment the majority of smartphones utilize LED flashes as opposed to a xenon strobe light that is preferred by more professional/dedicated cameras. However due to its continuous output and lower intensity compared to a strobed xenon flash, smartphone camera photos even with flash don’t end up nearly as good compared to a dedicated camera, which is where STMicro comes in.

The company is hoping to improve our photos in low-light settings with its new STCF04 multifunction chip, which not only is the company claiming can be controlled to output 40W, but can also control the charging and discharging of its supercapacitor, allowing it to store energy from the phone’s battery and delivering it to the LED in a short burst, much like how a strobe flash works.

Sample quantities of STMicro’s STCF04 chip are currently available but the company is expecting to enter full production by the end of March. What do you guys think? Will this take smartphone photography to another level?