Japan Display Inc announces development of a transparent glass-based fingerprint sensor

Japan Display Inc (JDI) has announced the development of a glass-based transparent capacitive fingerprint sensor and there is very high chance that the technology could be used in future smartphones.The company claims that commercial shipments should begin by the end of March 2019.[caption id="attachment_4317507" align="alignleft" width="380"] Sample image of Glass-based Capacitive Fingerprint Sensor. JDI[/caption]Most fingerprint sensors are not transparent and are made of silicon. There have been recent developments where Vivo has actually managed to put the fingerprint sensor beneath the screen. But this happens to be a completely new ball game.This glass-based capacitive fingerprint sensor uses the touch functionality found in JDI's in-cell Pixel Eyes displays to detect variation in capacitance.JDI has improved its technology such that the fingerprint sensor has been integrated 'into' the display and it is activated when it detects a change in capacitance ie. when a finger is pressed on it. The entire sensor, rather than being built on silicon, is built onto a highly transparent glass substrate.This technology would absolve the need of putting a fingerprint sensor under the display as you can easily put it in the display.JDI plans on making both larger and smaller sensors too and there are also talks of building flexible sensors in the future.