Come tomorrow, January 24, Vivo will launch the first commercially available smartphone with an in-built fingerprint sensor. Other manufacturers will follow suit and that will most probably be the trend for this year.
While Vivo’s X20 Plus UD uses a Synaptics’s sensor that is placed between the glass panel and OLED panel, Japan Display Inc. commonly referred to as JDI has a different approach.
This is the company’s first fingerprint sensor by the way, since they are naturally into display manufacturing. However, the display does play an important part in the way the scanner works.
Unlike traditional fingerprint sensors that are made of silicon and are not transparent, JDI’s sensor is made of a transparent material. It uses JDI’s Pixel Eyes™ technology which allows the sensor to be built right into the glass substrate of the LCD panel.
The technology has been perfected such that it can even detect the changes in capacitance caused by the recesses and ridges of one’s fingerprints when the finger touches the display.
JDI’s current sensor measures 8.0mm x 8.0mm but the company says it plans to develop larger as well as smaller sensors that will work with a variety of devices.
The Japan-based manufacturer says shipping in commercial quantities should begin within the 2018 fiscal year which ends March 2019. Chances are we won’t see it appear in devices until next year.
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One key advantage JDI’s technology has over that of Synaptics is that it works with LCD displays unlike the latter which works only with OLED displays.It is safe to say JDI’s technology will not be limited to only flagship devices but also mid-range or even entry-level phones.
