In their attempts to provide more screen real estate, smartphone OEMs have been working hard on developing under-screen camera technology. Experts believe that this new tech will be the next big thing in the smartphone market, especially due to the aesthetic upgrade that it brings to smartphones.
ZTE is already working on the world’s first commercial smartphone with an under-display camera dubbed the ZTE Axon 20 5G. Just a few weeks after ZTE’s announcement, Xiaomi came forward, revealing its third-generation under-screen camera technology.
The company not only showcased a working prototype with the new in-display camera but also explained how over time, the technology was improved to make it as good as a traditional front camera.
The Chinese smartphone OEM initially developed the first-generation under-screen camera technology last year in June 2019. However, later the company found that the display on top of the camera wasn’t perfect, and the pixel density in that area was low. Soon after, in October 2019, the company revealed the second-generation version of the under-screen camera tech.
Today, the company revealed its third-generation invisible camera tech that is believed to be near perfect. According to Xiaomi, the first two generations were successful in making front cameras transparent, but it compromised on the pixel density. Initially, the company was able to reserve 1 in 4 pixels for the display. The remaining had to be made transparent. However, the third-generation solution solves this problem by utilizing a self-developed pixel arrangement. Xiaomi has achieved light transmittance through the sub-pixel gap area. Thus, the pixel density above the camera looks similar to the rest of the display.
Here’s an officially shared prototype of the camera. The video shows a smartphone that looks like a modified Mi 10 Ultra.
According to the company CEO Lei Jun, the new tech will be ready for mass production by 2021.
This is called R&D