new generation of OLED panels from Samsung Display has been introduced, and the firm claims they can measure a user’s heart rate, blood pressure, and stress levels as well as identify fingerprints anywhere on the screen.
Generally, fingerprint sensors in smartphones are placed as a separate module beneath the screen and only detect fingerprint information on a small section of the screen. By integrating a light-sensing organic photodiode (OPD) into the panel itself, Samsung’s new “Sensor OLED Display” expands this sensitivity throughout the whole screen.
Future smartphones may be able to use multi-finger authentication, which might provide thousands of times more security than a single finger (for example, by placing four fingers on the display), according to the technology now being shown at SID Display Week 2023.
Another possible feature would be to eliminate the requirement for a password or face identification by allowing users to authenticate specific applications on their phone’s home screen by merely touching the app icon to launch it.
The capacity of the sensor OLED display to assess cardiovascular health, including blood pressure, when two fingers are employed, is possibly the most fascinating promise stated. According to Samsung Display’s news release, “It is important to monitor the blood pressure of both arms to precisely assess a person’s blood pressure.” The Sensor OLED display provides more precise health information than other wearables since it can concurrently feel the fingers on both hands.
According to Samsung, the method works because OLED light is reflected differently depending on the constriction and dilation of the blood vessels inside the finger, and when it returns to the panel, the OPD is able to identify it and translate it into a blood pressure measurement.
The speed and accuracy of Samsung’s Sensor OLED display were not made clear, and it was also unclear if the simultaneous collection of authentication and biometric data was possible. Samsung is certain that smartphones will soon include the technology.
Could it, or anything like it, ever show up on an iPhone? It’s no secret that Apple has been developing a Touch ID system intended to be installed under the display since at least 2013, and the corporation has received many patents for the idea. In fact, despite assertions that the next iPhone with under-screen Touch ID is doubtful, Apple has, if anything, stepped up research on under-screen fingerprint detection technology.
A patent for under-screen Touch ID, which combines short-wave infrared technology with an optical imaging system that may perform a variety of tasks, was given to Apple earlier this year. The most recent version not only aims to read the user’s fingerprint when it contacts the display, but it may also be able to detect dampness, gloves, vein patterns, blood oxygenation, and pulse.
If Apple will eventually embed Touch ID below iPhone screens is currently impossible to predict with certainty. There haven’t been any stories that imply Apple plans to go that way, but instead, the firm will introduce an iPhone with Touch ID integrated into a real side button, similar to the most current iPad Air and iPad mini models.
