Future Front Facing Cameras Could Be Placed Under The Display
2018 smartphones will have thinner bezels than the ones we saw in 2017. Smartphones in 2019 will have even thinner bezels and slowly but surely, smartphone makers will get rid of all the bezels and start making devices with “all screen no bezels” design. That begs the question, where will all the sensors and most importantly, the front facing or cameras go? Xiaomi tried a new position for the front-facing camera in the bottom bezel but, as we said, future smartphones could get rid of all the bezels.
A new Samsung patent has been unearthed, and it reveals a future where front facing camera or cameras will be placed under the display. This patent pushed everything under the display including the earpiece, the proximity and ambient light sensors. While this patent seems futuristic, the way the bezels are being trimmed down and some company’s decisions to place all the necessary hardware in a notch not coming off as an ideal solution, an in-display camera could very well be real in the near future.
Unlike what Xiaomi did with the Mi Mix and Mi Mix 2, this patent shows a traditional placement along the top of the phone. However, if there is a camera that can see through a display, it can be placed anywhere on the display. This is, however, just in theory and whether companies will look to change the traditional placing of the front-facing camera is a question to which only time will answer.
So far, even though it is just a patent, it has hurdles that nobody has decided to solve yet. No company has built a camera so far that can be, even in theory, placed under a display. An early patent, however, suggests using a transparent OLED. With a high refresh rate, the device could flick the screen on and off and allow the camera to have a look during the inactive periods.
As good as this sounds, we are still away from the future of all screen no bezels display. With the in-display fingerprint sensor technology barely coming to the fore, it could be a while before even a prototype with this technology is demonstrated.
