Samsung just revealed the ultimate smartphone screen

Samsung Display is no stranger to screen-related innovations, with the company helping to popularize folding screens and ultra-thin glass in foldable phones. The company isn’t ready to stop innovating in the conventional smartphone space though, as it’s just announced a cool new OLED screen.

Samsung announced that it will show off a so-called Sensor OLED Display at the SID Display Week event this week. This display integrates a fingerprint scanner into an OLED screen, so smartphone brands don’t need to add a separate fingerprint scanner module under the screen.

The company also says this display can recognize fingerprints anywhere on the screen, which would be a huge perk. The vast majority of phones with an under-display fingerprint sensor have scanning areas barely bigger than your fingernail, requiring users to tap on the correct part of the screen to unlock their phones. This approach means you could theoretically unlock your phone without needing to tap on a specific display area.

Interestingly, the Sensor OLED Display also enables several biometric-related features, such as heart-rate tracking, stress level monitoring, and blood pressure measurements by pressing two fingers on the display.

“To accurately measure a person’s blood pressure, it is necessary to measure the blood pressure of both arms,” a Samsung Display spokesperson was quoted as saying. “The Sensor OLED Display can simultaneously sense the fingers of both hands, providing more accurate health information than existing wearable devices.”

We’re guessing the integrated fingerprint scanner is of the optical variety as we’ve previously seen heart-rate tracking on phones with optical in-display fingerprint sensors. So don’t expect the same level of speed and accuracy as phones with ultrasonic scanners like the Galaxy S23 series and vivo X80 Pro.

Either way, we hope to see this screen arrive on smartphones in the future. But it would also be a great addition to smartwatches if Samsung Display can indeed miniaturize the tech.

The Korean brand also has another cool gadget on display this week, dubbed the Samsung Rollable Flex. This prototype expands its length by more than five times compared to a claimed three-fold increase for conventional foldables and rollables. More specifically, this device uses a scroll-like design to go from a five-centimeter tall screen to a 25-cm tall panel.

Samsung specifically notes that this tech could “revolutionize the portability of tablet PCs or laptops.” That suggests you probably won’t see a smartphone with this giant rollable screen, although it would be a nifty solution for portable displays. It’s also difficult to tell how thick this screen is as Samsung is only showing it from the front. But it could nevertheless be handy if space is at a premium on your desk or in your bag.