LG’s new fingerprint reader to be under a smartphone display

Manufacturers have put them on the rear panel under the cameras, on the power button and on the central button in the front but LG is planning them inside the display of the smartphone

Manufacturers have put them on the rear panel under the cameras, on the power button and on the central button in the front but LG is planning them inside the display of the smartphone (Android Central)

Like smartphone cameras, fingerprint readers or scanners are the rage today and smartphone manufacturers are readily experimenting with design of the phone to put it in a place where it is more useful to users.

Manufacturers have put them on the rear panel under the cameras, on the power button and on the central button in the front but LG is planning them inside the display of the smartphone.

According to a report in The Verge, LG Innotek has slotted a tiny 0.01-inch (0.03 milimeter) space cut into the underside of smartphone cover glass, allowing device designers to incorporate fingerprint readers without dedicated buttons, pads, or other exposed elements.

LG says fingerprint recognition rates on the under-glass module are comparable to button-type sensors and should reduce any smartphone malfunctions, with the added bonus of allowing phones to be made waterproof or scratch-resistant, or simply designed to look sleeker.

The company it hasn't yet announced whether it will be using this new module in any upcoming phones, but an LG spokesperson told the Korea Times that the company is currently in talks with some smartphone manufacturers to commercialize the new sensors "within the year."