Samsung Is Working on an an Unique Under-display Selfie Camera

BY Mahit Huilgol

Published 7 Jan 2021

Samsung is all set to unveil the Galaxy S21 lineup at Unpacked 2021 later this month. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to feature an under-display selfie camera. New reports indicate Samsung’s under-display camera is ready to hit production later this year.

The report is based on a patent filed by Samsung Display in May last year. Meanwhile, the documentation was published on December 31. Companies like Xiaomi and Oppo have already shown prototypes of under-display camera.

Samsung’s patent details a smartphone with two displays glued together. One is the main screen, while the other is a secondary display that offers higher light transmission. The secondary display aims to allow ample light to fall on the camera sensor. Interestingly, the secondary display will offer a lower resolution as opposed to the primary display. As mentioned earlier, both displays will be glued together.

Samsung’s patent is very interesting and different from Xiaomi and Oppo’s prototype. The prototypes feature a visible camera area that sticks out like a sore thumb. We observed the selfies in prototypes suffer to a certain extent due to light transmission issues. Eventually, this will degrade image quality. On the other hand, Samsung’s latest patent seems to have solved this issue.

As seen in the schematics, the secondary display can occupy the entire top portion or only a certain part of the display. All the while, a flash, and infrared unit will be placed underneath the secondary sensor. As pointed out by LetsGoDigital, Samsung is working on technology for quite some time. It also means Samsung’s work is in the last stages, and we might get to see an under-display camera later this year.

The report says Galaxy Z Fold 3 might not use an under-display camera since the bendable display is already complicated. We guess that the under-display camera might debut in Galaxy S21 series and trickle down to Galaxy A series.

[via LetsGoDigital]