Apple supplier Japan Display revealed some details on its second-generation "Pixel Eyes" LCD modules over the holidays, providing us with a look at some of the ways the display industry is advancing. Japan Display's "Pixel Eyes" modules incorporate touch functionality into the display, and in the second-generation model, there are some exciting improvements.
Using a new sensor structure and new materials, Japan Display has managed to decrease the thickness of the bezel, going from 0.8mm to 0.5mm. A deeper black level is available, and the display can accept input with a stylus as narrow as 1mm for finer detail when drawing or writing.
Perhaps the most intriguing feature in the LCD module is its ability to operate with wet fingers. Many current smartphone screens are unable to work accurately under water and when fingers are wet as water is capacitive and confuses the built-in touch sensors.
iPhones, iPads, and the Apple Watch, for example, don't respond well to touch with wet fingers or when placed in water, so technology like this could be essential if Apple wants to have a functional display in a device advertised as "waterproof." Some iPhone 7 rumors have indicated the next-generation iPhone could be a waterproof device.
In a report earlier this week, The Motley Fool highlighted Japan Display's second-generation "Pixel Eyes" technology and the possibility it could be included in the iPhone 7. Volume shipments on the displays will begin during the current quarter, making them available for possible inclusion in the iPhone 7 when Apple begins ramping up production during the summer months.
While Japan Display is one of Apple's suppliers, it is not entirely clear if Japan Display screens are used in the iPhone and if the second-generation Pixel Eyes display technology will be used in future products. There have been rumors suggesting Apple and Japan Display have partnered up for a $1.7 billion display plant to produce screens for iPhones in 2016, so it's not out of the question that we'll see Japan Display screens in the iPhone 7 or the iPhone 7s.
Regardless of whether Japan Display's technology ends up in the iPhone, the advancements made by the company serve as an interesting glimpse at features that could be adopted more widely by the display industry in the future, eventually making their way into Apple's devices.
