Samsung invents the dual under-display camera smartphone for potentially improved Face Unlock purposes

Apple may have only just progressed to Dynamic Island-enabled iPhones; however, the OEM is also already rumored to look beyond that to future flagships with truly edge-to-edge displays thanks to the rise of UDC. Now, Samsung may be even slightly ahead of the Cupertino giant, with double the number of cameras in question.

It has secured a claim for what is effectively a dual UDC panel that might have a front-facing shooter at either end of the display in question (when in portrait mode). Its main application seems to be the delivery of improved biometrics by scanning the user's face from multiple angles at once (and, possibly, in improved detail too).

That use-case could be particularly relevant to next-gen foldables, which could use the balance on either side of their hinges. On that note, the increased number of UDCs might require improved integration into their displays in the first place.

That aspect may become particularly important as Samsung's IP, approved by South Korea's KIPRIS authority in 2021, also calls for an unusual feature: the measurement or tracking of the pupil of a user's eye in the course of scanning.

It is a slightly strange goal of Samsung's (an OEM that had once offered iris scanning in some of its earlier flagships), although it may help the smartphone tell between an image of the user and the actual live human when unlocking its screen.

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