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EP-4571403-B1 - DISPLAY WITH INTEGRATED CAMERA

EP4571403B1EP 4571403 B1EP4571403 B1EP 4571403B1EP-4571403-B1

Inventors

  • Coanda, Philip
  • Feher, Albert
  • PASCA, ANDREI
  • MINDESCU, CHRISTIAN
  • BALAN, Catalin

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20231213

Claims (10)

  1. An apparatus comprising: - a display device (1), and - a camera (3), - the display device (1) comprising: - a cover glass (7), - an LCD Panel (2), and - a backlight unit, - wherein the LCD Panel (2) is arranged behind the cover glass (7), the backlight unit is arranged behind the LCD Panel (2) and the camera (3) is arranged behind the backlight unit with its field of view directed to the backlight unit, the field of view of the camera (3) defining an active area (9) of the camera (3), - wherein the backlight unit comprises an edge light source (8) and a light guide (5), - wherein the light guide (5) is a light guide (5) with microstructures, and wherein - the camera (3) is operating in the infrared wavelength spectrum, characterized in that - the light guide (5) in the active area (9) of the camera (3) comprises a camera window (11) with nanostructures (12).
  2. An apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the cover glass (7) is optically bonded to the LCD Panel (2).
  3. An apparatus in accordance with one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the backlight unit further comprises a light enhancement layer (4), which light enhancement layer (4) comprises a cut-out window (6) in the active area (9) of the camera (3).
  4. An apparatus in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the light enhancement layer (4) is formed by a stack of foils (10) comprising a Louver foil and/or a reflective polarizing foil and/or a diffusing foil at least one of which comprises the cut-out window (6).
  5. An apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a processor, the processor being provided to apply a post-processing algorithm on a captured image taken by the camera (3).
  6. An apparatus in accordance with claim 5, when dependent on one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the size of the cut-out window (6) is smaller than the active area (9), that the camera (3) is detecting image information of a first area within the cut-out window (6) and of a second area outside the cut-out window (6), and that the detected image information from both areas is provided to the post-processing algorithm.
  7. An apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the LCD Panel (2) comprises two polarizers at least one of which does not influence or only weakly influence Infrared light passing the respective polarizer.
  8. An apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the LCD Panel (2) comprises two polarizers, both of the polarizers do not influence or only weakly influence infrared light passing the polarizers.
  9. An apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the liquid crystal material of the LCD panel (2) does not influence or only weakly influence Infrared light passing the LCD panel (2).
  10. A vehicle comprising an apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims.

Description

The invention relates to a display with integrated camera and a vehicle with such integrated display. Given the current trends in display technology, more and more OEMs (OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer) from different sectors are looking to integrate a camera behind a display within their products. This type of approach can be found in consumer products such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, currently raising the interest for automotive products also. In addition to this, driver monitoring systems are becoming mandatory in order to be able to satisfy the new safety regulations, therefore the camera systems are starting to be integrated in different devices across a vehicle, such as cars, trucks, buses and so on. In order to address this matter, various approaches have been used by OEMs and manufacturers from different industries looking to achieve seamless camera integration in their devices. The technology used to integrate the camera behind a display is mainly influenced by the display type technology, such as LCD (LCD: Liquid Cristal Display) display and LED (LED: Light-Emitting Diode) display. Smartphone manufacturers addressed this problem by firstly creating a notch within the display and installing the camera within the notch behind a cover glass of the display. However, such camera installed in the notch cannot be regarded as seamless integrated and as a camera behind a display. To achieve a seamless camera integration behind a display, multiple options were identified. For example, EP 4 102 810 A1 and US 11 145 233 B1 describe the usage of a lower pixel density and/or of smaller pixels, for an active area of the camera. Hence, such approaches propose a lower pixel density and/or smaller pixels for the area where the camera captures the image to create enough space for the light to enter. Different pixel arrangements are also possible for such approaches, as this aspect can also have an effect for the quality of the picture. However, such solutions that are using lower pixel density and/or smaller pixels for the active area of a camera would result in that each platform or application would need a specially designed LCD panel to meet the requirements of the product, which additionally would result in an increase of complexity of the design and an increase in the costs of such solutions. US 2020/0117034 A1 describes a camera installed behind an LCD display in a through hole. The LCD display comprises a cover glass, an optically clear adhesive (OCA: optically clear adhesive) layer, a first polarizer, a first glass substrate, a color film (CF: color film) layer, a thin film transistor (TFT: thin film transistor) layer, a second glass substrate, a second polarizer, and a backlight module. The through hole is provided through the first polarizer, the CF layer, the TFT layer, the second polarizer, and the backlight module. The through hole forms a light channel in the LCD for ambient light coming from outside of the electronic device, passing through the cover glass and the light channel, and entering into the camera. The camera is disposed in whole or in part inside the through hole. The first glass substrate and the second glass substrate are not hollowed out in a region corresponding to the light channel. However, such an approach requires a great deal of effort to align such a through hole in almost all parts of an LCD. Furthermore, drilling such through hole in nearly all parts of the LCD can result in damages in each single part of the LCD. Hence, the parts must be controlled for damages and a correct alignment with regard to the through hole. All the afore mentioned in turn leads to higher costs. WO 2021/258921 A1 describes a camera device under a display screen. The display comprises a display screen and a camera. The display screen includes a cover at the top and a display module under the cover. The display module includes an ITO (ITO: Indium Tin Oxide) glass, a liquid crystal layer and a backlight layer. The display screen is provided with a blind hole area, which blind hole area is formed on the liquid crystal layer above an opening that goes through the whole backlight layer. The camera is arranged directly below the blind hole and a lens of the camera extends into the hole in the backlight layer onto the blind hole area, forming an angle of view through the blind hole. The display screen further includes an electric field circuit, which is provided on the ITO glass layer of the outermost layer of the liquid crystal layer, and which electric field circuit drives the deflection of the liquid crystal in the blind hole area of the display screen through the change of the electric field, so as to change the optical path of the light passing through the blind hole area, and to realize the focusing of the camera. Such approach is complicated to realize and means higher costs. Furthermore, a complete hole through the whole backlight layer would influence a light guide, in that the scatter o