Onlookers under the Essential Phone screen camera patent: or will end Liu Haiping

As a benchmark in the mobile phone industry, Apple's product launches always spark imitation across the market. The iPhone X was no exception—its innovative design, known as the "Liu Haiping" or notch, stirred excitement and pushed major Android manufacturers to follow suit. However, what many may not know is that the concept of the notch didn't originate from Apple. It was actually introduced earlier by the Essential Phone PH-1, created by Andy Rubin, often referred to as the "father of Android."

In a way, Essential Phone can be considered the pioneer of the notch design. But now, it might also be the one to bring an end to the era of the notch.

According to IT Home, in February last year, Essential Phone filed a patent for an under-screen camera design (see image below). This move suggests that the company is exploring a future without the traditional notch.

The idea isn't complicated. LCD screens are made from almost transparent materials, so if the camera is placed beneath an area that is mostly transparent, and that section is turned off when taking a photo, the camera can effectively be integrated into the screen.

Sounds simple, right? So why didn’t anyone come up with this before?

Currently, there are two main ways to implement this concept. One is to make the screen semi-transparent, while the other involves the camera capturing light from the LCD’s color filter layer and using software to correct the colors.

Despite the popularity of the notch, some manufacturers have been experimenting with alternative solutions for hiding the front-facing camera. For example, Xiaomi’s Mix 2 uses a bottom-mounted front camera, and Vivo introduced a pop-up camera on the APEX. Interestingly, Essential Phone also had a similar patent for a retractable camera.

If Essential Phone can successfully turn its under-screen camera patent into a real product, it could offer a more elegant and futuristic solution than any other current approach. This would not only mark a significant step forward in smartphone design but also signal the end of the notch era.