I’m not a fan of bezels, so the news that Samsung Display is working on a fully bezel-less display sounds like metaphorical music to my ears. Especially since Samsung Display produces screens for the iPhone.

As reported by The Elec and OLED-info, Samsung said at the show that it can create a “zero-bezel” display that effectively covers the entire frame of the phone using 3D lamination technology and edge-to-edge brightness control.

While the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has curved edges that make the screen significantly larger than many high-end phones, there are bezels at the top and bottom of the panel. While it’s a bit of a problem, being able to remove them completely could mean that the so-called Galaxy S24 Ultra has almost the entire screen on the front, providing a more immersive viewing experience on the go.

But the most interesting hypothesis here is that Samsung Display makes displays for Apple’s iPhones, so in theory we could see this display technology spread to Apple’s flagship smartphones as well. The iPhone 15 Pro is expected to have thinner bezels, but we won’t be able to get rid of these bezels completely, so we may have to wait for the iPhone 16 or even the iPhone 17.

Updated camera technology under the screen

OLED-info also noted that Samsung Display is highlighting the Advanced Under-Panel Camera (UPC) as a way to improve display technology. Over 50% high transmittance on cards; from a non-technical standpoint, it means applying more light filters from the screen to the camera sensor; this usually results in better photos.

The company also stated that the UPC will have an optimized pixel structure, which will likely result in sharper and sharper images by such a camera. In its current form, UPCs offer functional photos, but are unlikely to compete with traditional selfie cameras without a screen.

Samsung Display’s improved UPC, or work it has done so far, will most likely appear on the next Galaxy Z Fold phone. But I’m pretty hopeful that this kind of technology will eventually find its way into a future iPhone that will save Apple phones from annoying nicks or cutouts; As interesting as Dynamic Island is, I don’t think it has enough software support to fully justify the screen space it takes up.

This is all speculation on my part, but the work of Samsung Display could be the key to pushing the next evolutionary step of smartphone design forward.