A new patent from South Korea’s regulatory agency for intellectual property and patents has revealed that tech heavyweight Samsung may be finalizing plans to release an under-display camera for its smartphones. The patent comes with the trademark “Under Panel Camera” or UPC emanated from Seoul-based Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and is linked to Samsung. The patent falls under the category: Smartphone/ TV display panel and began flying around the grapevine less than a week ago
Recall that there had been some buzz since December 2020, when a number of tipsters predicted that it was likely that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 could have an under-display camera module, as Samsung has been known to have been working on such design for quite a while.
The race for under-display technology deployment for smartphones has been a keenly contested one and we are gradually seeing some of the manufacturers now crossing the finish line, with the release of smartphones incorporating under-display technology for their camera system.
Chinese phone maker ZTE in September 2020, unveiled the ZTE Axon 20 5G which was the first-ever smartphone with an under-display camera. The Axon 20 5G comes with four rear cameras and a single 32MP under the display camera. The sensors of the Axon 20 include an under-display and optical fingerprint sensor. However, as should be expected in an area where the technology is evolving at an astounding pace, there is still a lot to be done to improve on the under-display technology deployed in the production of the front camera model of the Axon 20.
Again, the fast-rising Chinese brand, Xiaomi also recently said that it had chosen not to release any product with an under-display system until the technology for such has been up to speed, as the research continues into this area of smartphone development, with greater implication for the industry.
It is unclear what is the stage of development of under-display technology for Samsung, but with some leaks already revealing the impending launch of such technology for the Galaxy Z Fold, we may not be looking too far from the berthing of this technology by Samsung. We keep our fingers crossed and see whether any manufacturer will beat Samsung to the prize.
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