The use of on-screen fingerprint sensors is a very popular feature in the Android camp. However, this feature is only possible on OLED displays which are significantly more expensive than LCDs. In recent times, we have seen some LCD displays that integrate an on-screen fingerprint sensor. Now, Chinese manufacturer, Huawei, has such a device. At the Huawei Developers Conference, the company showcased an LCD display smartphone with an on-screen fingerprint sensor. According to the company, this device will soon go into mass production.
Gizchina News of the week
A popular Chinese company and close ally of Huawei, BOE, has an LCD display with a screen fingerprint sensor. We don’t know if the Huawei phone uses BOE’s display. Recall that BOE has supplied displays for some of Huawei’s flagship device including Huawei Mate X. Liu Xiaodong, vice president of BOE, revealed at the MWC 2019 Global Display Elite Summit that the BOE’s LCD fingerprint sensing technology has been successfully developed and will be in mass production in Q4 2019.
Wang Teng, product director of Xiaomi, believes that LCD displays with fingerprint sensors are technically feasible. However, he is not optimistic about the launch of such a feature this year. According to him, the end of next year (at the earliest) is more likely. At present, the LCD panel has a wide market in the smartphone and most of these devices sell for less than $300. If this feature comes to reality, it will probably feature in low-end models. The flagship models should still retain the OLED displays.
