Xiaomi senior vice president Wang Xiang tweeted a series of slides that explained more about how the feature actually works, via DPReview.
For Xiaomi’s implementation of the feature, the camera is embedded in the top of the device, as usual. But instead of putting a border around it (a notch) or cutting a hole in the screen (a hole-punch display), the camera is covered with a “special-low-reflective glass with high transmittance.”
Xiaomi says the setup allows the area of the display to become transparent to take pictures, and the transparent display then cleverly doubles as the camera lens on top.
Xiaomi also notes that by not trying to make the camera (and, therefore, the inevitable notch) as small as possible, the transparent display system allows for a larger sensor and better image quality than its existing teardrop notches.
Xiaomi didn’t say when its first phone with an under-display camera would hit the market but hopefully, we won’t have to wait too much longer.
