Samsung patents display that narrows viewing angle to block side glances
Samsung describes a screen design that uses two types of pixels with different visibility ranges. A processor controls which pixels light up to either show a wide view or a narrow view, using physical barriers to block light from reaching eyes at certain angles.
In the filing’s own words
An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a display including a plurality of pixels, and a processor, each of a plurality of pixels may include a plurality of sub pixels, the plurality of sub pixels may include first type pixels including first type sub pixels observed at a first viewing angle, and second type pixels being adjacent to the first type pixels and including second type sub pixels observed at a second viewing angle that is smaller than the first viewing angle, and the processor configured to, for a plurality of groups including first type pixels and second type pixels, perform a control such that turn-on ratios of the first type pixels and the second type pixels in, a plurality of groups, a first group are different from turn-on ratios of those of, among the plurality of groups, a second group that is different from the first group.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An electronic device comprising: a display comprising a plurality of first pixels and a plurality of second pixels, a first pixel of the plurality of first pixels observable at a first viewing angle, and a second pixel of the plurality of second pixels observable at a second viewing angle being narrower than the first viewing angle; and at least one processor configured to: in a first mode, display a screen with the first viewing angle by emitting of the first pixel, and in a second mode, display a screen with the second viewing angle narrower than the first viewing angle by emitting of the second pixel, wherein the display comprises: first sub pixels included in the first pixel, second sub pixels included in the second pixel, a pixel definition member surrounding each of the second sub pixels, a shield layer disposed above the pixel definition member such that the second pixel is observable at the second viewing angle narrower than the first viewing angle, and an additional shield member disposed between the shield layer and the pixel definition member surrounding each of the second sub pixels.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
- Official title
- METHOD FOR MANAGING PIXEL OF DISPLAY, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE SUPPORTING SAME
- Publication number
- US20260279244A1
- Application number
- 19676359
- Filed
- May 13, 2026
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Inventors
- 7
- Claims
- 14
Classified under
G09G 3/2074 Physics & computingG09G 3/2096 Physics & computingG09G 3/3208 Physics & computingG09G 2310/04 Physics & computingG09G 2320/0242 Physics & computingG09G 2320/043 Physics & computingMore from Samsung in AR, VR & displays
- Samsung patents screen that predicts where your eyes will look next Sep 29, 2026
- Samsung patents AR headset that adjusts images using eye tracking Sep 17, 2026
- Samsung patents camera feature that identifies objects and shows AR info Sep 17, 2026
- Samsung patents method to animate avatars from photos and voice Sep 24, 2026
- Samsung patents AR glasses that blend real objects into virtual scenes Oct 1, 2026
Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.