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Galaxy Note 20 First To Utilize “Under Display Camera” Tech?
It was leaked prior to the release of the Galaxy S20, but that didn’t happen, so it now looks like Samsung’s “Under Display Camera” might debut on the Galaxy Note 20…
Before the Samsung Galaxy S20 launched, there was talk about Samsung bringing a new kind of selfie camera to market, one that sat beneath the display on the front of the phone. This novel approach meant that you no longer need a hole-punch or a notch.
OPPO is working on one of these as well, as you can see below.
But Samsung didn’t bring the under-display camera to the S20. The Galaxy S20 range, like the Galaxy Note 10, featured a hole-punch front-facing camera. And now those phones are out of the way, the next prime suspect for Samsung’s “Under Display Camera” is the Galaxy Note 20 which is due to land in August 2020.
How “Under Display Cameras” Work?
Samsung will use a transparent display placed over the punch hole that, when not in use, will cover the front-facing camera, giving the illusion that the entire front of the phone is all display. This technology is apparently called HIAA2 (hole-in-active-display).
The panel will be built by Samsung Display, of course, and plans are already in motion to ramp up production capabilities for mass HIAA2 deployment. Whether it will come to the Note 20, however, remains to be seen…
It’s possible that Samsung will trial the new HIAA2 tech on one of its smaller releases, a new Galaxy A series phone, for instance, just in case there are any issues with it. The Note range is one of Samsung’s biggest sellers, so it cannot afford any “issues” with the phone post-launch.
However, given the release of Apple’s iPhone 12 range later this year, Samsung will need to make the Note 20 as compelling as possible. If Samsung can do away with the notch once and for all, this would give it plenty of leverage over Apple and its iPhone 12, which will almost certainly feature a notch.
Samsung isn’t the only company working on under screen cameras (USC), though; OPPO debuted its “world-first” USC at MWC 2019 in Shanghai, as you can see below in the tweet from OPPO.
The algorithms behind our USC technology showcased at #MWC19 include haze removal, HDR and white balance resulting in a bezel-less phone, yet with a selfie camera that rivals current smartphones in the market today. #MoreThanTheSeen pic.twitter.com/yTpWgIMLmA
— OPPO (@oppo) June 26, 2019
Now the only question is whether or not this technology will be available in time for the release of the Galaxy Note 20…