LG Fingerprint Sensor Ditches The Button, Lives Under Smartphone Glass

Future LG smartphones, and smartphones the use display panels produced by the South Korean electronics giant, could soon do away with fingerprint sensors that are embedded in home buttons on many of today’s top flagship devices. Components subsidiary LG Innotek has created a new fingerprint sensor that can be embedded underneath a smartphone’s (or tablet’s) display panel.

LG was able to achieve impressive results with its fingerprint sensor, which is mounted in a 0.3mm “shallow furrow” cut onto the backside of a smartphone’s display glass. Given its “hidden” location, the sensor is not exposed to the elements protecting it from scratches and potential water damage. The sensor is also highly accurate, with a false acceptance rate of 0.002 percent.

"We are concentrating on all our resources to the development of the differentiated technology based on the creation of customer values.” said LG Innotek R&D Center Chief Changhwan Kim. “We will continue to provide convenient, safe, and pleasant user experiences by launching innovative product.”

LG expects an explosion in the availability of smartphones with integrated fingerprint sensors as the market for secure mobile payments increases in the next few years. LG hopes that its display-integrated solution will allow more OEMs to adopt fingerprint in their smartphones in a cost-effective manner. According to an LG spokesman speaking to Korea Times, "We are in talks with some handset manufacturers to commercialize the new modules within the year."

It should be noted that Qualcomm has developed a similar technology called Sense ID. Sense ID allows the fingerprint sensor to be embedded directly into glass, plastic, or metal, although we have yet to see any production devices featuring the technology.