Sharp's upcoming take on the punch-hole camera may have leaked in a new patent

The electronics OEM Sharp has allegedly patented its own phone with one of the most pervasive recent smartphone design trends. This is the punch-hole selfie camera, which involves technology that allows a front-facing camera sensor to be set directly into a given screen. Its application has resulted in greatly improved display-to-body ratios for other companies such as Huawei/Honor, Motorola and Samsung.

This "patent" may have been submitted to the JPO, and shows a device with a tiny hole set centrally in the upper part of its display. However, unlike many other devices with this technology, it also seems to have a lot of space left between the other end of this screen and the bottom edge of this phone.

This impression is maintained through the majority of the images included with this document, making it rather reminiscent of the Sharp Aquos Crystal. Then agian, there is one such schematic in which an edge-to-edge effect is achieved.

Some of the text included in the same file suggests that this submission, should it be genuine, was completed in 2017. (This, unfortunately, may explain its dual rear cameras and headphone jack.) Therefore, the OEM may have elaborated on its apparent use of the punch-hole since then. The screen type to be used in this design is not clear from the document; however, Sharp being Sharp, there may be a choice between various materials, from OLED to IGZO, open to this new potential punch-hole camera phone.