A Mexican Physicist Rafael G. González-Acuña Solved a 2,000-Year Old Problem (spherical aberration) That Will Lead to Cheaper, Sharper Lenses

On paper, a curved glass lens should be able to redirect all the rays of light passing through it onto a single target known as its focal point. But in the real world, it just doesn’t work that way. Differences in refraction across the lens, as well as imperfections in its shape and materials, all contribute to some of those light rays, especially those entering the lens near its outer edges, missing the target. It’s a phenomenon known as spherical aberration, and it’s a problem that even Isaac Newton and Greek mathematician Diocles couldn’t crack.

The breakthrough won’t just appeal to picky photographers who’ve been plagued with minor focus issues no matter how much money they’ve invested in their gear. It promises to help improve scientific imaging as well in devices like telescopes and microscopes where improved sharpness could lead to other discoveries. But even the average consumer will benefit from González-Acuña’s work. It will allow companies to design and manufacture simpler lenses with fewer elements which cost considerably less while offering improved image quality in everything from smartphones to cheap point-and-shoot cameras.

This would essentially help correct for distortion and clarity but it won't solve the problem of cheaper digital sensors behind the lens. But either ways it will move the quality of lenses forward a big step and it will be interesting to see how these improvements translate with photography benchmarking.

See #^https://gizmodo.com/a-mexican-physicist-solved-a-2-000-year-old-problem-tha-1837031984

#photography
#^A Mexican Physicist Solved a 2,000-Year Old Problem That Will Lead to Cheaper, Sharper Lenses

It’s a problem that plagues even the priciest of lenses, manufactured to the most exacting specifications: the center of the frame might be razor-sharp, but the corners and edges always look a little soft. It’s a problem that’s existed for thousands of years with optical devices, and one that was assumed to be unsolvable until a Mexican physicist developed a mind-melting formula that could revolutionize how lenses are manufactured.

source https://gadgeteer.co.za/node/3427