Long time ago, Sony used to be the market leader in displays and until a few years back it was a force to be in mobile displays, especially, with its Bravia technology and being the first to introduce a UHD (or 4K as it is commonly referred to) panel in smartphones. However, Korean electronic giants such as, LG and Samsung have since stolen its thunder and relegated to has-been in the mobile display space. However, the company’s latest patent shows evidence that it is still in the running in the smartphone display race.
While foldable displays are all the rage now, Sony seems to be intent on upping the game by introducing transparency into the mix. The patent describes a new display technology that not only folds like other patented displays from Samsung, LG, and Oppo, but it can also turn transparent and work as a double-sided display. However, the foldable implementation is quite complicated and cannot be easily understood until you grasp the non-foldable transparent-only. Meanwhile, LetsGoDigital has done a nifty job of recreating renders of the conceptual Sony transparent phone from the rather convoluted patent details. This should give you a fair idea of how the future transparent phone might look in the flesh.
Combines Liquid Crystals with Organic Light Emitters
Transparency is achieved by implementing two displays back to back. Sandwiched between these displays is a light emitting element that can turn transparent by itself, with the other two displays being able to control the intensity and transmission of the light generated by either display. It must be noted how the patent neither specifies the nature of the light emitting display, nor does it use the term light-emitting diodes. However, it still specifically mentions the per-pixel light emitting source is based on organic light emission technology.
Interestingly, the self-illuminating pixels of the organic light source sandwiched between the display emits light on both sides, front as well as towards the rear and thus, onto both displays. Therefore, various display configurations can be achieved by adjusting the intensity of the emitted light as well as the transparency of either displays. The patent doesn’t exactly detail how the front and rear displays achieve transparency, but the assembly involves liquid crystals (found in LCD panels) and a combination of common and per-pixel electrodes to control the transparency independently for both displays.
Transparent Phone Achieves Six Different Display Modes
With two displays sandwiching the middle organic light emitting layers, the Sony patent reveals three possible display modes per side of the device. Combined with the same being implemented on the opposite side, you have six possible display modes. These modes involve setting each of the two displays in various permutations and combinations of light reflective, partial and single colour reflective (possibly for text), transparent, and image generation modes to achieve up to six different types of display configurations. The illustrated diagram should give a good illustration of how this all comes together. The device also employs a variety of sensors for light emission and position relative to gravity to determine which one of the display is facing the user.
The foldable avatar of this patent implementation doubles the number of screens from two to four. The dramatic increase in the number of screens is primarily because the device no needs two displays on either side of the foldable seam. In fact, yet another (and crazier) implementation involves a grand total of two seams and three display segments requiring a whopping six transparent displays to make it work. The modes in the foldable versions can vary independently for each display segment, thereby allowing the display to show non-transparent content in the middle and achieve transparency at the sides.
If all that didn’t sound crazy and complicated enough, the patent document also explores the possibility of converting the whole shebang into a transparent rollable display. Click here if you want to take a look at the original patent filing to wrap your head around the complicated underpinnings of this technology.
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