Apple Looks to Prevent Screen Burn with In-Display Biometrics Patent

Apple is trying to patent a system that would prevent screen burn in mobile devices with in-display fingerprint sensors. The application arrives shortly after Samsung filed a patent for a similar system that automatically adjusts pixel brightness during a fingerprint scan.

The Apple solution relies on temperature compensation rather than pixel brightness. To that end, the system takes two readings while conducting a fingerprint scan. The first is a baseline reading, while the second starts with the same baseline and then introduces an additional signal. It then subtracts the first reading from the second to generate a temperature compensated signal.

The setup would give Apple more control of the temperature of the screen around a fingerprint sensor. That, in turn, would ensure that the pixels don’t overheat and increase the risk of burn.

As with any patent, it is too early to tell if and when the technology will make its way into a consumer device, though it could be a central component of in-display Touch ID systems in future models of the iPhone and the Apple Watch. Multiple rumors have suggested that in-display Touch ID could arrive with the upcoming iPhone 12.

Apple filed the new patent application in the fourth quarter of 2019.  

Source: Patently Apple

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July 8, 2020 – by Eric Weiss