Phones with Multi-Directional PDAF

PDAF (Phase-Detection Autofocus) is a focusing method built on dedicated focus pixels on the sensor: pairs of pixels look at the same scene from two slightly different angles, which lets the camera compute how far and in which direction to shift focus in one step. The old contrast-based hunting back and forth is not needed.

For the user it means speed: because focus is computed rather than found by trial and error, shutter lag shrinks, moving subjects — children, pets, sport — get caught instead of missed, and while filming, focus glides rather than jumps when the scene changes.

In the multi-directional version, the focus pixels are laid out along more than one axis. Ordinary PDAF is good at vertically lined detail but can struggle with horizontal patterns; a multi-directional layout sees the phase difference in both orientations, so focus holds on striped shirts, blinds and grilles too.