Google has filed a patent application with the European Patent Office entitled “Under-screen camera system and apparatus”.
The patent discloses technology that Google could use to give its Pixel phones an advantage over other flagships.
This patent explains how Google plans to make a new under-screen front camera that would allow Pixel phones to do without a punch-hole camera or notch, leaving an all-glass display on the front of the phone.
Google has developed technology that allows the screen to pass light to the camera without the glass stopping functioning as the device's screen.
While under-display cameras have been used in smartphones before, Google's version attempts to improve the quality of photos and videos taken by the under-display camera by taking two parts of the screen and snapping them together. using to block or distort light as it passes through the screen.
Google explains that this can be achieved by placing a layer of light-blocking material, of different shapes and patterns, between the screen and the camera sensors. A layer would be placed under each of the two regions mentioned.
One of the sensors could be for color images, while the other could be monochrome. Each of the light-blocking patterns would be designed to work with its sensor to enhance a particular feature of a photo or video. One example would be sharpness, another could be color fidelity.
The sensor results are mixed and, using digital image processing and machine learning, a high-quality image is created, reducing the negative aspects of having a camera under the screen.
Given that other attempts to improve under-display photography have yet to deliver high-quality images, if Google succeeds, it could get a leg up on the competition.