Today's smartphones trump each other with ever-larger displays and ever-narrower display margins. This trend also leads to problems. One of the most prominent is the problem with the front camera. Where can these be placed when margins are barely available? This led to developments like the notch or the punch hole. There are also retractable camera modules on offer. Xiaomi has now patented a new variant, which should make the front camera virtually invisible.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device, which includes: a camera structure; and a display structure. The display structure may include a light-adjusting component and a display screen. An operating state of the light-adjusting component includes a light-transmitting state and a polarization state, and the light-adjusting component includes a first region and a second region which are independently controllable. The display screen includes a plurality of independently controllable pixels. When the first region is in the light-transmitting state, the pixels are displayed in the display screen.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronic device including a camera structure and a display structure. The display structure may include a lighting adjustment component and a screen. An operation state of the light adjustment component includes a light-transmissive state and a polarization state, and the light adjustment component includes a first region and a second region that are independently controllable. The display screen includes a plurality of independently controllable pixels. When the first area is in the translucent state, the pixels that are on the screen and correspond to the first area are deactivated.
As we have noted in the past, patents don’t always translate into real-life products but are a good way to judge future innovations. That being said, we do hope that we get to see this patent in action as it would definitely eliminate the need for the notch or even the punch-hole design.
Whether we actually see such a front camera in a final product is of course not certain. Nevertheless, Xiaomi describes here a really interesting solution to the problem of the front camera with borderless displays.
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