Under-Display Camera! Future is Here.
- Sivaraj Kumar
- Jun 4, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 4, 2019
FIRST SOME HISTORY
(*Awkward silence exists)
There was an idea...
(*Piano starts to play in the background)
To bring together cameras under OLED panels...
(*Piano continues)
So when we needed them....
(*Piano bgm intensifies!)
They could fight the Battle of notches that we never could.
The idea of bezel less display has been around for a long time. Bezel less mobiles shown in sci-fi movies are always cool to look at.
First time I heard about bezel less displays was during iPhone 8 leaks. Yes, it was 2016 and the actual iPhone 8 didn't look anything like the leaks. But fans were very excited to see a true bezel less display. The tech to achieve this idea has been always in the future. But not anymore.
In the past couple of years we have seen different implementations of selfie cameras and speaker grill to achieve a high screen-to-body ratio in smartphones. I listing some implications down below (in random order).
Note : iPhone X is not the first smartphone to introduce notch. That goes to Essential PH-1.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO GET RID OF STUPID BEZELS!
Notch, teardrop notch, dual display (display in the back to use rear camera to take selfie), motorized pop-up camera, sliding display etc; Pixel 3XL has the worst notch implementation ever.
All these efforts by smartphone companies is to get rid of the bezels. I hate notch and pop-up camera doesn't look reliable either. Which implementation do you like the most? Share your favorite smartphone in the comments.
In 2018 we saw Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo filing patents regarding under-display selfie camera. So we knew this tech is coming. But nobody saw this tech coming in mid 2019.
Is under-display camera new to our world? Nope.
UNDER-DISPLAY CAMERAS
Every under-display optical fingerprint sensors has a camera beneath the OLED panel. When finger is placed on the screen the OLED will illuminate our finger and the camera beneath the display takes a picture. It is not as good as capacitive fingerprint sensors in most of the smartphones we see on back. But admit it. This is a cool tech.
Watch teardown video of OnePlus 6T by Jerryrig-everything.
O P P O
Today morning (03-06-2019) Oppo tweeted their breakthrough in under-display camera technology and blown everyone minds.
It looks dope. But I don't know why the video is in potato quality and the screen is plastic (maybe because its a prototype they went for plastic cover). Oppo didn't tell us how their tech works.
Oppo VP Brian Shen stated ”At this stage, it’s difficult for under-display cameras to match the same results as normal cameras, there’s bound to be some loss in optical quality, but no new technology jumps to perfection right away.” So we might be sacrificing some camera quality in 1st gen products.
X I A O M I
Later Xiaomi tweeted their breakthrough in the same tech (I'm not gonna say the word 'Under-display' again😒That's it.)
Xiaomi stole the spotlight. Why? The video quality is not potato. But why it is playing in 20x speed? I have no idea. Here we don't see a plastic display. Maybe it indicates an almost finished product.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Now the billion dollar question (or at least million). How does this work? Xiaomi tweeted few images explaining how their under-display camera (UGH NO! I did it again 😑 Idc) works.
So basically the setup is similar to the optical fingerprint scanner I mentioned earlier. But instead of illuminating the screen it will go transparent, allowing light from the subject to enter the camera.
In the Xiaomi's teaser, you can see how the OLED above the camera goes black (transparent) while opening the camera app to allow the light from the pretty girl. There will be definitely some loss in the camera quality.
TRANSPARENT OLED DISPLAY :
How a transparent OLED display looks like? In the video below, you are seeing the LG 55" OLED TV with 38% transparency.
You can see through the TV where the OLEDs are turned off. Now use camera to take pictures of the subject on the other side of the TV. That's how under-display camera works. Watch Linus Tech Tips video to know more about the LG Transparent TV.
We don't know how Oppo did it. Their implementation could be different. We have to wait few months to see this tech in consumer market.
What about the king of smartphone displays, Samsung? We have to wait but they are also working on this tech. They are already dealing the problems with their Galaxy Fold. So they will be very careful before making any big announcement.
IceUniverse is a very reliable twitter account that leaks new designs smartphone companies are working on. He tweeted this 9th May, 2019. I'm pretty sure this is about the under display camera design.
Apple fans have to wait till 2020 or 2021 to see this tech in iPhones. They are being late in smartphone innovation these days to avoid any risks.
So what do you think? Do you like where the smartphone designs are going? Tell me in the comments.
Thanks Kavi Priya for helping me with this blog 😊
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