Apple wants to make it easier for sunglass-wearing iPhone users to view the smartphone display

A newly granted patent (number US 11611058 B2) for “devices and systems for under display image sensor” shows that Apple is working to make it easier for iPhone users to view their iPhone screen while wearing sunglasses.

About the patent

In the patent Apple note that mobile devices such as iPhones may be used by any person in various locations such as inside buildings and outside, at varying times during the day, including the morning, day, and evening. During some periods of the day a user may be viewing the screen of the mobile device outside and while wearing sunglasses. 

Some of these sunglasses may have polarized lenses which may make viewing the mobile device screen difficult. Additionally, in some examples, the user may be viewing the screen of the mobile device through a polarizing film, a polarizing sheet, a polarizing layer, or a polarizing film on glass. 

Apple says that in any of these examples, the user may have difficulty viewing the screen of the mobile device in various orientations. The tech giant wants to change this.

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “An optical system is described. The optical system may include a sensor which may be in a mobile device. The optical system may use the same light source for imaging the display and for providing light to a sensor or sensor device. The optical system may be configured so that randomly polarized light will exit the device for viewing so that a user may view the display in any rotated orientation while wearing polarized eyewear. The optical system may further be configured to mitigate reflections in the mobile device from ambient light entering the system and from reflected and backscattered light from cross-contaminating the imaging light of the display.”