Phones with In-display Fingerprint Sensor: This Changes Everything

OnePlus 6T is likely to come with fingerprint sensor within the display and here’s how the feature works.

Vivo Nex already offers in-display fingerprint reader.  

(Photo: The Quint)

If you’re keeping a track of phones that’ll be launching in the coming weeks then the OnePlus 6T will be at the top of your recall. The company has confirmed that it’ll sport a fingerprint sensor within the display on the front, a first for the brand.

Industry shipments of phones using this technology are expected to hit 100 million by 2019, according to a report from financial services firm IHS Markit.

This clearly shows it’ll become a trend. Just like how phone makers have slowly ditched the headphone jack (after Apple did with the iPhone 7) followed by a notch screen (also after Apple got it with the iPhone X).

But, OnePlus won’t be the first in the industry to get this feature, with Vivo taking the laurel with multiple phones launched with the technology. So, how exactly does in-display fingerprint sensor technology work and what powers this feature on these phones, this story will take you through all that.

We spoke to the guys at Vivo who were able to give us the technical understanding of the in-display fingerprint scanner (FPS), which is going to become a regular option on phones very soon.

The company highlighted that removing the sensor from the back ensures that the design of the device becomes cleaner and seamless at the back. In addition to that, on the front, it allows phone makers to increase the footprint of the screen.

Research has shown that consumers prefer the fingerprint sensor to be on the front 

Danish Paigham, Product Manager, Vivo India 

Danish also talked us through the optical sensor technology which has been originally developed by US-based start up called Synaptics. The technology, more commonly known as Clear ID sensor has featured in Vivo and Huawei products launched globally, and now we’re going to see the OnePlus 6T packing it.

In-display FPS allows phone makers to increase the footprint of the screen. (Photo: The Quint)

The optical sensor responsible for reading the fingerprint is sandwiched between two layers of glass. The whole display is made up of four layers in all.

Optical FPS resides within the display which emits a blue light. You keep the registered finger above the glass and with the help of the light, the phone is able to take the picture of his/her finger which matches with the finger ID you have registered on the phone. 

Danish Paigham, Product Manager, Vivo India 

It's similar to the biometric scanners that are widely used across offices but FPS feature developed by Synaptics is claimed to have better accuracy even though its response for the time being is sluggish.

Vivo’s phones come equipped with fourth-generation FPS technology and like most features on a smartphone, it can be optimised via software updates.

This could be the official OnePlus 6T design(Photo: via Weibo altered by The Quint)

Hardware basically captures the images but processing is done by the software which can be gradually improved. 

Danish Paigham, Product Manager, Vivo India 

With devices costing less than 30K now sporting this feature, analysts expect FPS to become a mass-market standard in the next 6 to 12 months.

Of course, you’ll still have it available by high-end brands like Samsung, who’re likely to go for it with the Galaxy S10 but OnePlus, with its higher market reach and popularity could help the technology go mainstream.