Xiaomi patents technology for full screen under-display fingerprint scanner

over the years, under-display fingerprint scanners have become the norm for Android smartphones, with most flagship devices coming with some form of an under-display biometric scanner now.

Xiaomi is set to further innovate on this, as the Chinese tech giant has recently gotten a patent for a new type of fingerprint scanning technology that will let you unlock your phone by placing your thumb on any part of the screen.

With such a technology users would not have to try a couple of times to unlock the smartphone. It likewise eliminates the need for the user to place the finger under the fingerprint sensor and unlock it.

The all-screen fingerprint scanner will not require touching and holding on a specific spot for fingerprints detection. Instead, users will be able to tap anywhere on the screen to unlock the phone.

The patent, which was first reported by GizmoChina, was filed at the Chinese national patent database on January 4th. It shows that the tech will work with infrared LEDs transmitters and receivers, sandwiched between a capacitive touch-screen layer and any AMOLED display.

The LED transmitters detect the fingerprint through the capacitive touch-screen, while the infrared light receivers will capture the fingerprint data. The data is then processed, and if it matches the record, the device is unlocked.

However, this is not the first time that an all-screen touch-sensitive sensor has made the news. Back in August of 2020, Huawei had submitted a patent application for similar technology, although no further information was received regarding it thereafter. Even Apple is said to be playing around with the idea of an under-display fingerprint sensor for some of its upcoming handsets.

In related news, Xiaomi is expected to launch the Xiaomi 11T Pro in India as well. The smartphone comes with support for 120W fast charging. A recent leak claimed that the Xiaomi 11T will come in variants such as 8 GB RAM with 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM with 256 GB onboard storage. On the other hand, the Xiaomi 11T Pro is expected to arrive in the same variants and a higher model with 12 GB RAM with 256 GB storage.