Innovative Front Camera Designs for Higher Screen-to-Body Ratio

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For Android smartphones, the “screen-to-body ratio” is one of the most appealing parameters because a higher screen-to-body ratio provides a more stunning visual experience once the screen is lit up—almost the entire view is screen, which is the future direction of smartphone development.To achieve a higher screen-to-body ratio, the design of the front camera has gradually evolved into many variations, but which design is the most suitable for us?

Changes That Squeeze Out

Since the smartphone entered the “full-screen” era, the front camera has become the biggest obstacle to further increasing the screen-to-body ratio parameter.The reason is simple: even the smallest front camera lens module has a lens diameter of over 2mm. When considering the entire module and aperture, the smartphone must leave enough space in the “forehead” area.

Currently, the representative of retaining the traditional (front) camera design without adopting a shaped screen while elevating the screen-to-body ratio is the Meizu 16s.This product adopts a symmetrical full-screen design; it did not use the COP screen packaging process but controlled the width of the upper and lower borders to about 4.2mm based on the COF packaging process, thus “squeezing out” the installation position of the front camera.

Unfortunately, this design requires customizations for the camera and screen modules, making it significantly more expensive than ready-made solutions from the supply chain, which is why the Meizu 16s series stands out.

Smartphones like the Xiaomi MIX2/2S series, which place the camera at the bottom, also represent the “squeezed out” design. Its front camera module is very small, but it requires flipping the phone over each time for selfies, which somewhat affects the selfie experience.

Representative Products:Meizu 16th, Meizu 16s, Xiaomi MIX2s, etc.

Cut Out Position

To control costs, more smartphone brands prefer mature solutions provided by the supply chain.This is why we see a prevalence of “water drop screens”—after entering 2019, whether it’s the Huawei P30 series priced over 5000 yuan or the Redmi 7 starting at only 699 yuan, most new products have adopted this shaped screen solution.

The so-called “shaped screen” refers to a traditional screen that has been cut, including larger R corners, notches, “pearls,” “water drops,” and “beauty tips” at the top of the phone.The front camera is embedded in this recessed space to maximize the visible area of the screen, effectively improving the screen-to-body ratio parameter.Today’s new products mostly claim to have “water drop screens,” and the competition among products at different price points is based on the size of the recessed edges and the width of the screen borders (the lower border is generally wider than the upper border).

Representative Products:Huawei P30, Mate 20 series, OPPO R17/A9 series, Xiaomi 9, Redmi Note7 series, iQOO, vivo X23/Z3 series, Meizu Note9 series, etc.

Cut Out Space

Since the screen can be “cut,” it can naturally also be “dug out,” leading to the increase of the “hole-punch screen” (also known as under-screen camera) solution based on the shaped screen.Representatives of hole-punch screens include Samsung Galaxy S10’s “Super Sensory Full View Display,” Galaxy A8s/A60 Vitality Edition’s “Black Eye Full View Display,” Huawei nova 4’s “Extreme Point Full View Display,” Honor V20/Honor 20’s “Charm Eye Full View Display,” and Nokia X71’s “Eye-catching Full View Display.”

The hole-punch screen supports both LCD and OLED materials. For hole-punch screens based on LCD, the competition focuses on the diameter of the hole and whether a “through hole” or “blind hole” (not puncturing the LCD screen) solution is used. The latter can achieve a smaller aperture, allowing the camera to perfectly integrate with the LCD screen visually.

The camera aperture on the screen can easily block part of the app’s display content, making it difficult to ensure 100% perfect adaptation.

Moreover, whether the hole-punch area for the front camera supports touch should also be considered, as it will affect whether some interfaces of third-party apps can still be operated normally after being blocked by the hole.

Representative Products:Samsung Galaxy S10, A8s, A60 series, Huawei nova 4, Honor V20, Honor 20, Nokia X71, Moto G8, etc.

The Temptation of Pop-Up

No matter which of the above solutions is adopted, the fact remains that the front camera will always occupy a part of the screen’s effective display space.In other words, none of them can achieve the ultimate screen-to-body ratio.So, how can we completely “eliminate” the front camera to achieve a “true full screen” and release every bit of screen resource?At this point, it’s time for the hidden camera solution “pop-up” to make its appearance.

Sliding Full-Screen

The sliding full-screen is one of the hidden camera solutions that has a medium level of implementation difficulty and a relatively mature supply chain design, as sliding phones were once popular during the feature phone era.Currently, representative phones using this design include the Xiaomi MIX3 with a magnetic sliding structure, Honor Magic2 with a butterfly-style five-track sliding structure, and Lenovo Z5 Pro with a dual-spiral power six-position guided sliding track structure. They all use finger pressure to separate the phone’s screen and body, revealing the front camera module hidden behind the screen.

While the sliding full-screen can achieve a “true full-screen” visual experience, this structure that divides the phone into two parts inevitably sacrifices battery capacity, severely affecting the phone’s endurance.Therefore, after the three sliding full-screen flagships were launched at the end of 2018, no other new products have followed, and this pop-up camera solution is also unlikely to become mainstream in the “true full-screen” field again.

Representative Products:Honor Magic 2, Xiaomi MIX3, Lenovo Z5 Pro

Rising Camera

If we say that the sliding full-screen requires a “major surgery” on the entire structure of the phone, then the rising camera solution only needs to implement a “minimally invasive surgery” to hide the front camera module inside the body, which pops up for use through the cooperation of a micro-stepper motor, gearbox, and lead screw, undoubtedly a more clever design.

Vivo can be considered a pioneer of rising cameras in the smartphone field, having showcased a unique rising camera structure through the APEX concept phone in early 2018 and launched the mass-produced NEX series in June of the same year, bringing the pop-up camera from a sci-fi concept into reality.In 2019, Vivo launched the X27 and X27 Pro, continuing the rising camera solution and adding a semi-transparent light guide design and dynamic sound effects to enhance the selfie experience.Additionally, the X27 Pro further increased the area of the rising camera module, and the newly added soft light can help selfies shine even in the dark.

Furthermore, new products like the Redmi K20 series and Honor 9X have also adopted the rising camera design, and this solution is most likely to dominate the market for true full screens in the future.The question arises: if this design really becomes popular in the future, what will different products compete on?

From the perspective of the supply chain, the cost and yield rate of rising cameras are no longer issues. The future trend will be who can make the camera pop up with more technological sense and recognition.For example, OPPO Reno did not adopt the common vertical rising camera design but introduced a “shark fin side-rotating rising structure.” When an app or system needs to use the front camera, the “shark fin structure” automatically rises at an angle of 11 degrees from the top of the phone, effectively reducing the time for the lens module to pop up and leaving enough space to accommodate the front camera, front soft light, receiver, rear flash, and other components.

Moreover, the rising camera solutions currently face issues such as being prone to dust and a higher likelihood of damage when dropped or bumped. Hence, this raises higher requirements for the internal structure design of this solution.The Vivo X27 incorporates a spring buffer structure in the rising camera, which absorbs the impact force from drops to prevent damage to the rising motor.At the same time, the product cleverly overlaps the stepper motor, front camera, and three rear cameras in a vertical manner to maximize the internal space of the phone.OPPO Reno has also added a smart drop protection mechanism within the rising camera module; when it accidentally slips, the phone detects its state and automatically retracts the side-rotating rising structure to protect it from damage.

It is evident that even with rising camera solutions, distinctions can still be made based on pop-up style, internal structure, and protective measures, which we need to keep in mind.

Representative Products:Vivo NEX, X27, S1, Redmi K20 series, Honor 9X series, etc.

Middle Frame Rising Structure

While the modules of Vivo X27 Pro and OPPO Reno are relatively large, this does not affect their body structure.In the pursuit of a “true full screen,” there are also some more radical designs, such as not only the camera but the entire middle frame rising.

The OPPO Find X, launched last year, is one of the representatives of this design. It adopts a complex dual-track periscope structure to hide the IR fill light, IR camera, proximity sensor, receiver, dot matrix projector, front camera, and dual rear cameras in the retractable middle frame, which is raised and lowered by a motor in the dual-track periscope structure through a threaded shaft.The advantage of this design is that it has enough space to accommodate structural light face recognition modules and larger sensors, ensuring better results for selfies.

The Samsung Galaxy A80 also adopts a similar middle frame rising structure to the OPPO Find X, but it also introduces a rotating camera design similar to OPPO’s early N1/N3 models—when the Galaxy A80’s middle frame pops up, the embedded camera module can also rotate, allowing the three-camera matrix (48MP main camera + 8MP wide-angle lens + ToF sensor) to serve as both rear and front cameras.

Although this middle frame rising structure looks cooler, it also brings a more complex physical structure and significantly increases weight, affecting battery capacity, making it difficult to become a more mainstream solution, suitable for curious players to try.

Representative Products:OPPO Find X, Samsung Galaxy A80

Under-Screen Camera Solution

The under-screen camera solution can be seen as an upgraded version of the “hole-punch screen”; it requires a self-illuminating AMOLED screen. Since this panel does not have a backlight like the LCD screen, as long as the panel thickness is thin enough and the light transmittance reaches a certain standard, the front camera hidden beneath it can take selfies.

From the under-screen camera solutions showcased by Xiaomi and OPPO, both have adopted a similar method of screen splicing, modifying the bottom layer of the anode material corresponding to the OLED screen position of the front camera area from opaque to transparent.When the camera is activated, light can fully enter the camera sensor, and the opening for the front lens can completely disappear when the screen is off.

However, this solution is still in the stage of research and optimization. The display accuracy and color of the screen corresponding to the front camera area have deteriorated, and selfies may appear blurry and dark, requiring post-processing algorithms to optimize for slightly better photos.According to OPPO Vice President Shen Yiren, when has the realization of new technology reached perfection overnight?The under-screen camera technology needs to coordinate various hardware, while also requiring algorithms to optimize the experience. It can be said that if any link in the technology is not mature or well-connected, the realization of the under-screen camera will not be perfect.

Representative Products:Xiaomi and OPPO have both showcased prototypes

On the road to pursuing a “true full screen,” the design of pop-up cameras has already laid the technical groundwork for completely eliminating (hiding) the front camera. Although it has drawbacks such as increased thickness and susceptibility to dust, it is a design trend that reflects differentiated competition in mid-to-high-end smartphones, while “hole-punch screens” are also expected to capture the remaining market share.Of course, we also hope to see more perfect solutions emerge, such as foldable phones and under-screen camera phones, which can mature and mass-produce at popular price points as soon as possible.

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