Transparent-Opening Displays with Shorted Pixels for Under-Display Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices with full-face displays face challenges in sensor performance due to low light transmission through the display stack, limiting the effectiveness of under-display sensors such as cameras and ambient light sensors.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a display with both full and partial pixel density regions, where the partial pixel density region includes high-transmittance areas devoid of thin-film transistors and other display components, and shorting emissive sub-pixels to increase light transmission, along with removing certain display layers to enhance light passage to underlying sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the display covers the entire front face to achieve a full-face display, then the display area is increased, but the light transmission to under-display sensors is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display is divided into two distinct regions: a full pixel density region for normal display functionality and a partial pixel density region (pixel removal region) with transparent windows for sensor light transmission. This segmentation allows different areas of the display to serve different functions, resolving the contradiction between full display coverage and sensor performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the display are given different properties: the full pixel density region maintains complete pixel structures for high-quality display, while the pixel removal region has reduced pixel density with transparent windows to maximize light transmission to sensors. This local differentiation allows both display quality and sensor performance to be optimized in their respective areas.
2Illumination intensity
If thin-film transistors and display components are removed to create high-transmittance areas, then light transmission is improved, but the display functionality is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display structure is segmented into complete pixel regions with full TFT components and high-transmittance regions with removed components. This segmentation allows the display to maintain full functionality where needed while creating optical pathways for sensors in specific areas.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to make the entire display transparent to improve sensor performance (which would compromise display functionality), the invention inverts the approach by creating localized transparent windows only in the pixel removal region, leaving the rest of the display fully functional.
3Illumination intensity
If emissive sub-pixels are shorted to reduce thin-film transistor sub-pixels, then light transmission is increased, but the pixel control capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple emissive sub-pixels are merged and shorted together to share a common TFT control structure. This reduces the total number of TFT sub-pixels needed in the pixel removal region, increasing light transmission by removing fewer components while still maintaining coordinated control of the merged sub-pixels.
Solution Approach 2:
A single TFT sub-pixel is made universal by controlling multiple shorted emissive sub-pixels simultaneously. This multi-functional TFT structure reduces the overall component count in the pixel removal region, improving light transmission while maintaining the ability to control multiple sub-pixels through one control element.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed underneath the display. The display may have both a full pixel density region and a high-transmittance region that overlaps the optical sensor. To increase the transmittance of light through the high-transmittance region of the display, emissive sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region may be shorted together. Each emissive sub-pixel may be shorted to an emissive sub-pixel of the same color. The emissive sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region of the display may have the same layout but smaller sizes relative to the full pixel density region of the display. The thin-film transistor sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region may be consolidated horizontally and/or vertically to produce larger continuous high-transmittance areas.