Metalenz debuts under-display camera for payment-grade face authentication

Unlocking a smartphone with your face used to require a camera placed in a notch or a punch hole in the screen. Optical sensing company Metalenz has announced a new under-display camera that it says can perform face biometric authentication secure enough for use cases like payments and more.

The Polar ID Under Display Camera (UDC) was presented on Monday at Display Week, a display technology convention in Los Angeles. The camera can operate under a fully powered-on smartphone OLED screen while maintaining “total biometric integrity,” according to the Boston-based startup.

The product could be ready for the market in 2028. The under-display camera will likely not eliminate notches and punch-holes on smartphones, which will still be there for selfie cameras, according to Wired. But the technology could expand the options for facial authentication on smartphones.​

Smartphone makers have been reluctant to include under-display cameras, as image quality tends to be much worse due to reduced light transmission, lower effective resolution, and diffraction artifacts that cause blurring. The cameras are also more difficult to manufacture, with only a handful of smartphone brands attempting to bring them into the market.​

Metalenz has solved this problem with its optical metasurface technology, which shrinks bulky conventional optic lenses into a much thinner single lens, fitted with nanostructures that manipulate light rays.​

The technology has also allowed the company to capture polarization data and develop its Polar ID facial recognition system. One of the biggest advantages of using polarization to detect faces is that light reflects differently from real skin than from a photo, mask, or silicone prosthetic, making spoofing more difficult. The company claims a 0% spoof acceptance rate.

Last year, the company partnered with semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) to begin mass production of Polar ID, which is expected to become available in 2027. The company is rumored to be testing the technology for a forthcoming Samsung flagship smartphone.

Meanwhile, Metalenz is developing other metasurface technologies. In August last year, the company had more than 150 patents and patent applications. Earlier this year, the firm unveiled the Polar 3D, a polarization-based 3D imaging capability that builds on the Polar ID facial authentication platform.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  facial authentication  |  metalens  |  Metalenz  |  smartphones  |  under display