Smartphone under-display biometrics on the rise with Oppo and Google announcements

The Google Pixel 6 will feature a new under-display fingerprint sensor and Oppo is showing off its under-display camera. Apple has recently filed patents believed to allow both under-display TouchID and FaceID biometrics in future models.

Pixel updates include first under-display fingerprint reader

Google has also teased some of the upcoming Pixel 6 this week, including the highly anticipated ‘Tensor’ chip, a 120Hz display, a 4x zoom camera, and an under-display fingerprint sensor.

The latter would be the first of its kind to be installed on a Google phone, replacing the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner of previous Pixel models.

The move was confirmed by Google to The Verge, but the firm has reportedly not specified whether the fingerprint sensor will be optical or ultrasonic.

According to XDA, which recently analyzed the Android 12 source code, the under-display fingerprint sensor is likely to be optical.

This would be confirmed by the presence of HBM (High Brightness Mode) in Google’s later mobile OS, which is typically used to improve optical fingerprint recognition by increasing the brightness of the display near the scanner.

Oppo develops ‘almost no visual difference’ under-screen camera

Oppo has unveiled its latest under-screen camera technology for front-facing cameras in smartphones, The Verge reports.

According to the announcement, the new tech would allow the camera to be positioned underneath the display ‘without compromising the integrity of the screen’.

Up to now, traditional under-display cameras have tended to reduce pixel density in the portion directly above the sensor to let more light pass through.

Oppo is reportedly circumventing this issue by utilizing smaller pixels and retaining the same 400-PPI density as the rest of the OLED panel.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has not confirmed what handset will first ship with the technology.

However, Oppo has released an image of a prototype phone running an e-reader app to showcase the pixel evenness of the screen surface, as well as a sample image taken with the new camera.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  consumer adoption  |  consumer electronics  |  facial recognition  |  fingerprint recognition  |  research and development  |  smartphones  |  under display