Samsung has just obtained a patent that covers a fully transparent smartphone. In the future, the manufacturer could market an innovative smartphone that has no opacity, starting with the screen.
In January 2020, Samsung filed a patent with the USPTO, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. On August 27, 2020, the organization approved the application and released a document describing an OLED screen characterized by high brightness and ultra-fast response time. Most importantly, it is completely transparent and provides visibility to the back of the smartphone.
A rigid, foldable or wrapable screen
According to the patent description, it may be a rigid or flexible screen, capable of bending or being rolled up. The diagrams that accompany the technical details show a smartphone with thin borders that therefore has a slab with zero opacity. As is often the case, the patent has been spotted by the website Let's Go Digital which offers several photorealistic renderings made in partnership with designer Giuseppe Spinelli.
This is not the first time we have heard of a transparent smartphone. In 2018, Sony had already imagined a similar smartphone with a double-sided screen. The difference with Samsung's patent is that the device described here has no borders. This feature leaves questions unanswered.
Where will the various components of the smartphone be located? Certainly, significant progress has been made in recent years. The first smartphones with a selfie sensor under the screen are just making their debut. A Japanese company called NTT also presented a prototype battery that is fully transparent like glass last year.
The idea of Samsung still seems very futuristic at the present stage, unless the manufacturer makes transparent only part of the screen, a possibility that is also exposed in the patent. The technology described could also be used for TVs and PC editors. As a reminder, Xiaomi launched a few days ago its first fully transparent TV. But then again, the treatment units are not in nothingness since they are housed in the base of the TV.
Finally, Samsung is not in its infancy with this type of screen. Five years ago, the manufacturer presented a prototype fully transparent OLED screen with mirror effect. This technology has since evolved and is used by the company in the advertising media market.
Source: Let's Go Digital