The latest phone designs focus on solutions that allow a full-screen display and avoid the notch, punch-hole cameras, or bezels without compromising on quality or performance. Infineon Technologies  together with its time-of-flight (ToF) partner PMD Technologies and the leading vision-based imaging specialist ArcSoft is developing a turnkey solution that allows a ToF camera to work under the display of commercial smartphones. It will provide reliable high-quality infrared images and 3D data for security-related applications like face authentication and mobile payment. The market for ToF solutions in smartphones is estimated to reach above six hundred million sensor units in 2025 with a CAGR of around 32 % from 2021 onward. The new under-display solution will be available in the third quarter of 2021 and has been be introduced during the MWC 2021 conference from June 28 to July 1.

“Time-of-flight technology offers tremendous value for smartphones and in our daily lives by making electronic devices aware of the context in which we use them,” says Andreas Urschitz, division president power and sensor systems at Infineon. “In addition to our continuous technological achievements in terms of smaller size, reduced power consumption, and better 3D performance, our artificial intelligence-enabled and secure under-display solution will provide a display design beautification for smartphone manufacturers.” 

“To build powerful time-of-flight cameras, you need to have a deep understanding of the 3D data and how applications make use of it. That is why we are working closely with middleware partners and OEMs to provide them with best-in-class ToF-algorithms, software, and high-quality 3D data to build their application on. The solution, which we are jointly developing with ArcSoft, allows our ToF cameras to see through displays while still meeting the requirements for secure face authentication in mobile phone unlockick and mobile payment”, adds Prof Dr Bernd Buxbaum, CEO at PMD Technologies.

“The implementation of 3D ToF in mobile devices promises to spark the next wave of killer consumer applications, which is exactly why ArcSoft is excited to work with Infineon and PMD Technologies”, says Sean Bi, COO of ArcSoft. “By deeply integrating ToF cameras with ArcSoft’s computer vision algorithms, under-display ToF can bring reliable facial recognition solutions and a superior full-screen experience to consumers. Relying on under-display ToF, ArcSoft will also enable more applications such as AR-related, which mobile device manufacturers value when deployed in support of new and exciting mobile apps.”

The combination of high-end semiconductor technology, ToF expertise, and high-end algorithms of the three companies, will enable an easy design-in, turnkey solution for OEMs to offer its customers their favorite user facing applications in a modern smartphone design with a notch-less display.

Features of the new turnkey solution for ToF under-display

User facing ToF cameras are mostly used for face authentication and for photo enhancements. Infineon and PMD Technologies are providing the most advanced and secure 3D ToF sensor solution for facial ID on several smartphone models. The latest facial ID solution, which will incorporate ArcSoft’s under-display camera package, allows overcoming display effects while reaching highest performance for secure face ID and image quality. The grey value and depth data quality of under-display images are as good as those obtained with traditional over-display concepts for critical applications like secure face ID. (Source: Infineon)