Xiaomi reveals new-age under-display camera technology

After testing in-display fingerprint sensors in prototype mobile devices in late 2017, several phone-makers began launching commercial variants with good success. Now, they are trying a similar technique for front-camera and Xiaomi is leading the way.

Wang Xiang, senior vice president, Xiaomi in a tweet posted info-graphics detailing the advanced display technology.

Xiaomi under-display camera tech; picture credit: Wang Xiang, senior vice president, Xiaomi

In the post, Xiang claims Xiaomi has developed an in-house custom display that makes the mobile screen to turn transparent in a particular location so that the hidden front camera take photos. Furthermore, the display can also act as an additional layer of lens for the camera to take high-resolution photos.

New under-display camera tech; Picture credit: Wang Xiang, senior vice president Xiaomi/Twitter

And when the camera is turned off, the screen turns normal with no hint of a camera presence in the front panel. Even when the screen is off, we can not see the reflective lens (see the image below).

Xiang shared side-by-side photos of two phones, one with dot-notch screen and another with the under-display camera. The new technology will certainly bring a new revolution in the smartphone industry and beneficiaries, the consumers will be able to enjoy the true full-view experience on the phones without any obstruction like a notch, we see in the market right now.

Comparison of phones with dot-notch display and under-display camera; Picture credit: Wang Xiang, senior vice president (global) Xiaomi/Twitter

The under-display camera also has an upper hand over a few phones with motorised cameras, as the former will be more durable compared to the latter when they fall on the hard surface.

Also, despite companies claiming camera motors in the phone are made of high tensile materials, they will be affected if they don't retract before hitting the ground. It doesn't matter if the phone has a smart sensor, which can detect a fall. They are just not fast enough to retract like a turtle would do when danger presents in front of it.

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