Apple Inc.

Yue Cui

Jean-Pierre Simon Guillou

Yi Qiao

Tsung-Ting Tsai

Abbas Jamshidi Roudbari

Warren S Rieutort-Louis

Shyuan Yang

Yuchi Che

Ricardo A Peterson

Ming Xu

Shawn Robert Gettemy

Ting-Kuo Chang

Tyler Robin Kakuda

David Andrew Doyle

Paul C Kelley

Ying-Chih Wang

Salman Karbasi

James P Landry

Yang Xu

Ran Tu

Mario Miscuglio

Snehal T Jariwala

Zhizhen Ma

An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed underneath the display. The display may have both a full pixel density region and a high-transmittance region that overlaps the optical sensor. To increase the transmittance of light through the high-transmittance region of the display, emissive sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region may be shorted together. Each emissive sub-pixel may be shorted to an emissive sub-pixel of the same color. The emissive sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region of the display may have the same layout but smaller sizes relative to the full pixel density region of the display. The thin-film transistor sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region may be consolidated horizontally and/or vertically to produce larger continuous high-transmittance areas.

Devices with displays having transparent openings and shorted pixels

A light emitter that operates through a display may cause display artifacts, even when the light emitter operates using non-visible wavelengths. Display artifacts caused by a light emitter that operates through a display may be referred to as emitter artifacts. To mitigate emitter artifacts, a display pixel that overlaps the light emitter may include a transistor that provides a current sink to divert leakage current away from the light-emitting diode in that pixel. A shielding layer may be interposed between the light emitter and a display pixel. The shielding layer may block light from the light emitter. The shielding layer may have an opening that exposes one transistor in the pixel to the light from the light emitter. Pixels that overlap the light emitter may have larger anodes than pixels that do not overlap the light emitter.

Display pixel with a current sink to mitigate artifacts caused by an under-display light emitter

An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed underneath the display. The display may have both a full pixel density region and a pixel removal region with a plurality of high-transmittance areas that overlap the optical sensor. To mitigate reflectance mismatch between the full pixel density region and the pixel removal region, the pixel removal region may include a transition region at one or more edges. In the transition region, one or more components may have a gradual density change between the full pixel density region and a central portion of the pixel removal region. Components that may have a changing density in the transition region include dummy thin-film transistor sub-pixels, dummy anodes, a cathode layer, and a touch sensor metal layer. The transition region may also include anodes that gradually change shape and/or size.

Devices with displays having transparent openings and transition regions

An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed underneath the display. The electronic device may include a plurality of transparent windows that overlap the sensor. The resolution of the display panel may be reduced in some areas due to the presence of the transparent windows. To increase the apparent resolution of the display in portions of the display panel with the transparent windows, the display may include a light spreading layer that includes a plurality of diffractive elements. The light spreading layer may spread visible light from the array of pixels such that the display resolution at the outer surface of the display is greater than at the display panel. The light spreading layer may selectively spread visible light but not infrared light. The display may also include a lens layer that focuses light onto the transparent windows.

Devices with displays having transparent openings and a diffractive layer

An electronic device may have a display that displays an image. The image may be viewed through a display cover layer that overlaps the display. The display cover layer may include an optical coupling layer such as a coherent fiber bundle. A pixel expansion layer such as a diffractive layer may be incorporated between the optical coupling layer and a protective layer. The diffractive layer may create duplicate pixels to occupy otherwise non-light-emitting areas on the output surface of the display cover layer. The diffractive layer may also create duplicate pixels that overlap adjacent pixels to allow for brightness averaging. An adhesive layer or the protective layer may be used to form diffractive elements for the diffractive layer. An adhesive layer having a high index of refraction may be interposed between the optical coupling layer and the display panel to mitigate undesired reflections of ambient light.

Electronic device with an optical coupling layer and diffractive layer

An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed underneath the display. The electronic device may include a plurality of transparent windows that overlap the optical sensor. Each transparent window may be devoid of thin-film transistors and other display components. The plurality of transparent windows is configured to increase the transmittance of light through the display to the sensor. The transparent windows may have non-periodic portions to mitigate diffraction artifacts in light that passes through the display to the optical sensor. The transparent windows may be shifted by a random amount in a random direction relative to a grid defining point and/or may be randomly rotated to increase the non-periodicity. A transparency gradient may be formed between the transparent windows and the surrounding opaque portion of the display. The transparent windows may be defined by non-linear edges.

Devices with displays having transparent openings

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Campbell, CA, United States of America

Yue Cui