Samsung, LG Set to Bring Full-Screen, Sound Emitting Smartphones Next Year: Report

Smartphones featuring thin-bezel display panels are quite common nowadays. They majorly include a notch design that accommodates an earpiece as well as frontal sensors, such as the selfie camera, ambient light, and proximity sensor. But now, Samsung and LG are found to be working on the next level of smartphones that may come with a truly full-screen experience. The technology, which is at the pilot stage, was showcased at the Display Week 2018 late last month. It is already rumoured that the Galaxy S10 flagship will come with a piezoelectric speaker, similar to the newly launched Vivo Nex series and the Xiaomi Mi Mix, to give a more display space than its predecessor.

Samsung Display and LG Display are set to commercialise their full-screen OLED display technology by early next year, reports ETNews, citing people familiar with the development. The new technology is said to eliminate transmitters to deliver a full-screen experience - without requiring a notch to include a dedicated earpiece or sensors.

At the Display Week event in May, Samsung exhibited a full-screen OLED prototype that it formally called "Sound on Display". The prototype, which measures 6.2-inch in size, does not require a separate earpiece and produces the sound by vibrating the panel. This helps to offer an entire edge-to-edge display experience. The transmission bandwidth of the panel is reported to come between the 100 ~ 8000Hz range. Further, the sound is audible only when the users place their ear on the display. This could help to make your conversations as private as they are through a traditional earpiece.

Alongside Samsung, LG showcased its 88-inch 8K OLED display at CES 2018 in January with a Crystal Sound OLED integration. The technology helps to emanate sound directly from the panel. The South Korean company could bring the same experience to small screens and enable sound-emanating smartphones to take on the competition.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Samsung Galaxy S10 will come with a piezoelectric speaker that will sit under the display panel to produce sound. The advanced speaker will not require an earpiece and will use piezoelectric vibrations to emit sound through the screen.

Notably, Xiaomi brought its Mi Mix with a full-screen panel and the absence of an earpiece back in October 2016. While the Mi maker switched back to a more conventional earpiece on the Mi Mix 2, Vivo recently brought the Nex A and Nex S handsets with a Screen SoundCasting technology that omits the earpiece and generates the sound through a micro-vibration unit. The new Vivo models also include an elevating camera sensor that pops up from the top to let users capture their selfies or make video calls. All this enables a complete bezel-less experience.