Apple Patents Display Capable Of Reading Fingerprint: How It Works?

Apple’s very own Home button may not stay alive for long, as Apple has granted a patent for an “Interactive display panel with IR diodes” a method that would let users use virtual home button placed within the touchscreen.

As published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple’s U.S. Patent, the touch display that incorporates micro-LED sensing technology instead of the ubiquitous active matrix hardware (found on most of the mobile phones).

ALSO READ: Apple Patents New Technology That Will Find Your Lost iPhone (Even if it is Switched OFF)

Apple Patents!!

This patent was originally filed by a micro-LED display company LuxVue in 2014, the patent was reassigned in April after Apple acquired the company for an undisclosed sum back in 2014.

Though there is no clue whether the iPhone X ( as rumors for the 10th anniversary) will come with this technology or not. Not only Apple is planning/inventing new fingerprint reader, Synoptics have also been cracking-opening with a new optical fingerprint sensor and fingerprint readers with built-in facial recognition.

How does It work?

According to patent, micro-LED can be used as a surrogate for standard capacitive touch arrays. Separate IR emitting and sensing diodes connect to drive and select circuitry to create a subpixel circuit. Due to the small size, these IR diodes can be embedded into a display alongside RGB LEDs on a microchip.

Dubbed “Interactive Pixels,” the subpixel arrangement could incorporate red, green, blue, IR emitting and IR sensing LEDs in an extremely high-resolution panel. The system can also calibrate to perform any number of operations based on sensing components or more advanced features like touch detection and determining the surface profile of a target (fingerprint recognition) can also be outlined.

ALSO READ: Apple Patents Its Revolutionary See Through iPhone 8 Design!

So, Apple might ditch Touch ID as it moves to a new and more advanced futuristic system, a touchscreen capable of acting as an input device and fingerprint scanner could save space and can provide a greater design flexibility. We need to wait until it gets official. Stay Tuned!

Featured Image Credits: AppleInsider

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