Recently, fingerprints under the LCD screen have become a hot topic in the mobile phone industry. Fingerprint is a widely used method for secure unlocking and payment of smart phones. Currently, under-screen fingerprint unlocking functions are mostly implemented in OLED screens, which is not good for low-end and mid-range phones. Recently, Xiaomi and Huawei achieved breakthroughs in fingerprint technology under LCD screens and exposed corresponding models. Is 2020 expected to be the first year of fingerprints under LCD screens? What impact will it have on the high, middle, and low-end market structure of mobile phones?
Breakthrough in fingerprints under LCD
Under-screen fingerprint recognition technology has become an important research and development direction of major manufacturers in recent years. Although the under-screen fingerprint technology has made new breakthroughs in the past two years, it has become one of the standard designs for high-end models, but it is mostly used on the screen. . The LCD screen can only adopt a rear fingerprint identification solution or a side fingerprint unlocking solution, which makes many consumers who like LCD screens feel tangled.
Recently, Lu Weibing, the president and general manager of the Group's China brand, publicly stated that Redmi has successfully implemented LCD fingerprints on LCD screens. At the same time, Lu Weibing also released a demo video of a prototype based on Redmi Note 8. In the video, Redmi Note 8 unlocked the fingerprint under the screen, and the recognition and unlocking speed was quite fast.
The relevant information shows that Redmi's latest new Note 9 may become the world ’s first mobile phone with fingerprint recognition function under the LCD screen. At the same time, 10X series mobile phones are also expected to be equipped with fingerprint recognition function under the LCD screen. This means that It is expected to realize the fingerprint recognition function under the screen on the low-end mobile phones.
The working principle of the screen fingerprint is simply to record the characteristics of the fingerprint and feed it back to the sensor below the screen to determine whether it coincides with the user's initial fingerprint. However, because the fingerprint sensor is below the screen, there needs to be a channel to transmit optical or ultrasonic signals, which has led to the current implementation on OLED screens. LCD screens can't enjoy this visible way of unlocking because of the backlight module.
Today, the Redmi R & D team has overcome this problem, realizing screen fingerprints on LCD screens and having mass productivity. Due to the innovative use of infrared high-transmittance film materials, the infrared light that could not penetrate the screen has been greatly improved. The infrared transmitter below the screen emits infrared light. After the fingerprint is reflected, it penetrates the screen and hits the fingerprint sensor to complete the fingerprint verification, which solves the problem of fingerprints under the LCD screen.
Industry chain is stepping up preparations
Compared with the OLED screen fingerprint recognition solution, the advantages of the LCD screen fingerprint technology are low screen cost and high yield. The LCD screen structure is more complicated than the OLED screen, with more film layers and lower light transmittance. It is also difficult to implement an optical fingerprint scheme similar to OLED.
In order to achieve better light transmittance and recognition, manufacturers need to optimize the optical film layers and glass of the LCD screen, and even change the structure of the screen film layer to improve the infrared transmittance. At the same time, due to changes in the film layer and structure, the Sensor originally located in a specific position under the screen needs to be modified.
"Therefore, LCD screens with under-screen fingerprints are more customized than ordinary LCD screens. The mass production process requires close cooperation between terminal brand factories, solution factories, module factories, film materials factories and panel factories. Supply chain management and control capabilities have put forward higher requirements. "CINNO Research chief industry analyst Zhou Hua said in an interview with China Electronics News.
It is understood that the supply chain manufacturers of fingerprints under LCD screens include Fu Shi Technology, Fang, Huaxing Optoelectronics, Huiding Technology, Shanghai OXi, France LSORG and other manufacturers. It is reported that the manufacturer that cooperates with the fingerprint of the Redmi LCD under the screen is Fu Shi Technology, and the backlight film manufacturer is 3M Company. As early as April last year, Fu Shi Technology released the world's first mass-produced LCD fingerprint solution under the screen. Through continuous attempts to reform the LCD backlight board and adjust the fingerprint solution, this problem was successfully overcome. Through the advantages of its own algorithm, it has realized the rapid identification of fingerprint technology under the LCD screen, and the technology is constantly evolving and improving.
Expected to be implemented in mid-range phones in the short term
Due to the limited cost of low-end and mid-range phones, LCD screens have always been their main screen choices. With Xiaomi and Huawei conquering the fingerprint technology under the LCD screen, is it possible for mid-to-low-end phones to soon popularize the fingerprint function under the screen?
GfK senior analyst Hou Lin said in an interview with the "China Electronics News" reporter that although the fingerprint technology under LCD screen has made a breakthrough, the cost is in an awkward position, which is too high compared with the ordinary unlocking scheme of LCD screen and OLED. The screen is not too low, so it may only be implemented in mid-range phones in the short term.
At the same time, Hou Lin also predicted that the application of fingerprint technology under the LCD screen currently has a relatively small impact on the overall high-end, low-end mobile phone landscape.
At present, the high-end machine is a comprehensive flagship model, and the screen is only a relatively small part. At present, the screen direction of the high-end machine is to remove the hole to achieve a true full screen. At present, the development of this technology is more on OLED screens. get on.
For low-end models, because of the higher cost of fingerprints under the LCD screen in the short term, it is more difficult to achieve; in the long run, using fingerprints under the screen or side fingerprints will indeed give consumers a certain choice, However, it is difficult for consumers to increase their own purchase budget due to the under-screen fingerprint technology, so it is not expected that the overall price pattern will have much impact.
Domestic mobile phone manufacturers have basically dominated the market below 4,000 yuan, and this is the price segment where fingerprints under LCD screens will appear earlier. Hou Lin believes that more manufacturers in the domestic market will rely on their own strength to compete for the share of the remaining manufacturers. If you look at the overall share of Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, the impact of fingerprints under the LCD screen may be small.
Looking at the global market, currently Chinese manufacturers have achieved certain results in many countries and regions, but more sales come from the low-end market. The fingerprint under the LCD screen can only be regarded as a minor technological change, which has limited effect on mobile phone manufacturers to increase their global share.
CINNO Research's monthly screen fingerprint market report data shows that 2020 is expected to become the first year of mass production of LCD screen fingerprints. It is optimistic that this year's shipments are expected to exceed 6 million units, and it will rapidly increase to 52.7 million units in 2021. By 2024, shipments of fingerprint mobile phones under LCD screens are expected to grow to approximately 190 million units.
Zhou Hua said that although the mass production and popularization of LCD screen fingerprints is challenging, since LCD screens still occupy a very large share of smartphones, major manufacturers still have sufficient motivation to adopt and launch products using this technology. LCD screens are expected to usher in a new wave of growth.
Post time: Apr-01-2020