It’s no secret that Samsung is working hard on creating a name for itself and maintaining the reputation of being at the top of the smartphone industry. Over the last year, we’ve seen the Korean phone manufacturer shrink screen bezels on the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 even more, and now a rumored Samsung under display camera could launch as soon as next year, making Samsung’s flagship devices the first phones to boast this technology.
According to a Korean website The Elec, the first smartphone boasting the Samsung under display camera could launch in 2020. It’s interesting to note that this report backs up the claim made by Yang Byung-duk, vice president of Samsung’s mobile communication, earlier this year. Back in March, during a media briefing, Byung-duk said that Samsung plans to make the cameras even more invisible, aiming to approach the full-screen display as much as possible, and eventually get rid of the bezels for good.
The under display camera will be a huge step forward compared to the punch hole cutout that cameras on this year’s Galaxy S10 and Note 10 have. The cutouts were made using Samsung’s new technology, which uses a machine called the Hole in Active Area, also known as HiAA1. According to the report, the new HiAA2 equipment will be used to design the Samsung under display camera that will launch on next year’s flagship phone, and as The Elec reports, it could be the Galaxy Fold 2, successor to Samsung’s first foldable phone that launched this year.
As the report stated, the new feature could launch on the Galaxy Fold 2, which could possibly make designing and distributing this phone even more difficult. It has suffered several postponements this year, and the phone could face issues like light bleeding and distortions, not to mention that the price may possibly go up if it uses the new camera system on the front.
The under display camera (UDC) works by making the screen transparent only from the side of camera apertures, with Samsung aiming to to reduce the number and size of pixels, and reduce the distortion of light as it enters the camera lens. Also, Samsung can’t make this happen using OLED panels, because the substance used in it, Polymide (PI), isn’t transparent and leaves a yellowish hue over the screen.
According to the report, it’s expected that Samsung will begin the mass production of the Samsung Under Display Camera system early next year, after testing the HiAA2 equipment. The smartphones with the UDC cameras would then be released during the first half of next year.
