Recently, there were reports that Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. applied for a patent titled ‘Structure, Camera Module and Terminal Equipment for Hidden Front Camera’ on March 18, 2019, and the announcement was published on April 14.
The patent reveals that the utility model features a structure designed to conceal three components: a front camera, a camera module, and a terminal device. The structure also includes a light guide between the front camera and the glass screen cover.
The projection direction of the light guide plate is perpendicular to the display, which includes notch shielding treatment and orientation perpendicular to the display.
In addition, the device also includes one or more colored light sources located on the sides of the light guide plate, which will emit light of specific colors toward the sides of the light guide plate under the control of the processor. The light guide plate will also be used to change the propagation direction of the light of the specified color, which will be perpendicular to the direction of the display screen, allowing the light guide plate to display the specified color.
With the help of the light guide plate and the colored light source, the light emitted by the colored light source is refracted and directed into the gaps blocked by the light guide plate. This design can both shorten distances and enhance the display performance of terminal devices. This patented technology can provide a solution for manufacturing smartphones with an under-display camera.
An employee revealed that manufacturers will launch various types of under-screen devices in 2020. However, based on the current quality requirements for high-end phones, it is still uncertain whether this technology will be applied to flagship phones.