Sony Just Got A New Patent For Transparent Display Smartphone

Dhir Acharya - Dec 04, 2018

Couple weeks ago, WIPO published Sony's new patent, transparent foldable smartphones may be the next big step.

While we are still sitting around waiting for the next exciting launch of a foldable phone from Samsung and several other giants, someone is already on the way to the next innovation – transparent display phone.

Sony has filed a new patent describing an approach to a transparent screen on smartphones. According to LetsGoDigital, the patent submitted by Sony includes to displays, the first on the phone front and the other is on the back.

It’s worth noting that the patented display consists of pixels that can self-illuminate, Sony arranged the pixels in a 2D matrix. On the first display, aka front screen, there are elements that emit light. Meanwhile, on the second one, the Japanese giant put light controls, reflecting the incoming light.

Plus, to generate a transparent screen, Sony will have to put the two displays opposite to each other, which means Sony’s foldable smartphone will have four screens in total.

Sony’s patent also suggests a potentially integrated camera as well as a possibility of three or more foldable display parts, meaning a total of six screens.

In May 2018, Sony submitted this patent to the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) under “Display device and electronic apparatus.” Just couple weeks ago, on November 22, the patent was published by WIPO. Furthermore, Sony has created this patent based on two previous patents it obtained at an earlier stage in America and Japan.

As shown in the patent, it is likely that Sony’s transparent smartphone will feature a light sensor, along with a position sensor based on gravity, such as a gyro sensor or an acceleration sensor. This gravity position sensor will identify if the screen is being used at the front or back.

Moreover, there are a total of six different modes of displays described and illustrated in the newly approved patent. In particular, the front poses three modes and the same for the back. Note that, these modes range from non-transparent to semi-transparent, and fully transparent, one of which users can select to use at a time.