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Apple could create a full screen display for the iPhone without a notch or hole for cameras or other sensors, by moving the display panel to create a window every time a photo is taken.
One of the recognizable, often copied and criticized elements of the iPhone’s design is the notch at the top of the screen. Intended to allow the TrueDepth camera array to function, the notch size has been an issue for some time.
While Apple has considered ways to reduce the notch for future devices, what it could ideally do is get rid of the notch altogether. However, this introduces other issues, mainly having a screen and a camera sensor occupying the same space in a device.
In a patent entitled “Electronic devices with adjustable display windows” granted Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Apple believes it can solve the problem by moving the screen itself.
There have been smartphone designs with sliding screens in the past, but in Apple’s case, they want the sliding to happen completely within the device’s casing, without any external changes. Instead, users would see part of the screen change from a screen to a dimmer or black section, while a photograph or other sensor-related function would occur.
The patent refers to an area referred to as a window region in open and closed states. A mobile part of the display switches between two positions depending on the state, all under the exterior glazed enclosure.
Mobile display can take many forms, but a large part of it is the use of a flexible display. Depending on the version, this screen can be folded so as not to interfere with a sensor’s world view, have folds to articulate like a door, or slide up and down with a slight flex at one end.
The display could move up and down, creating window space.
In each case, the camera benefits from a direct view of the surroundings and the subject, although this can also differ. There is the suggestion that the camera could move, or the use of a reflective coating as a mirror for the light, directing it towards the sensor.
The patent lists its inventors as Roei Remez, Shay Yosub, Hoon Sik Kim, Assaf Avraham, Omer Eden, Paul S. Drzaic, Rafi Ambar and Refael Della Pergola. It was originally filed on May 14, 2020.
Apple files numerous patent applications each week, but if the existence of a patent indicates areas of interest to its research and development teams, that does not guarantee that the idea will be used in a future product or service.
A display window could allow a camera to use a mirror to see the world.
The idea of hiding the camera behind the screen has been brought up a number of times in the past in previous apps and in various forms.
In 2017, Apple came up with different ways to integrate sensors and other elements into a screen, using a variety of holes in the screen. In 2009, he suggested placing a camera behind the screen of a MacBook that would become functional once the screen itself fades in that region.
The idea was reinforced in 2019, with “light transmission windows” offering openings for cameras in the display circuits, which will become transparent if necessary. A multi-layered display was also suggested in 2020, to allow a camera to work in an Apple Watch display.
Apple also came up with the idea of combining the camera and the screen. A 2008 patent proposed a screen with thousands of microscopic image sensors between the LCD cells of the screen, which could then be software assembled to create a complete image.
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