IP Library Granted Patent US 12,426,445
Granted Patent B1
US 12,426,445 · App. 17/674,481 · Granted Sep 23, 2025

Devices with displays having transparent openings and shorted pixels

Inventors: Yue Cui (Campbell, CA); Ricardo A Peterson (Mountain View, CA); Yuchi Che (Santa Clara, CA); Shyuan Yang (San Mateo, CA); Warren S Rieutort-Louis (Cupertino, CA); Tsung-Ting Tsai (San Jose, CA); Yi Qiao (San Jose, CA); Jean-Pierre S Guillou (La Jolla, CA); Abbas Jamshidi Roudbari (Saratoga, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H10K59/1213G09G3/3208H10K59/131G09G2300/0452G09G2340/0407G09G2354/00H10K59/353
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,426,445
App. No.
17/674,481
Granted
Sep 23, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed underneath the display. The display may have both a full pixel density region and a high-transmittance region that overlaps the optical sensor. To increase the transmittance of light through the high-transmittance region of the display, emissive sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region may be shorted together. Each emissive sub-pixel may be shorted to an emissive sub-pixel of the same color. The emissive sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region of the display may have the same layout but smaller sizes relative to the full pixel density region of the display. The thin-film transistor sub-pixels in the high-transmittance region may be consolidated horizontally and/or vertically to produce larger continuous high-transmittance areas.

Claims (24)

1. An electronic device, comprising:

an input-output component; and

a display having a plurality of emissive sub-pixels of first, second, and third colors arranged in an array and a plurality of thin-film transistor sub-pixels that control the emissive sub-pixels, wherein the display comprises:

a first portion in which there is one emissive sub-pixel for each thin-film transistor sub-pixel; and

a second portion that overlaps the input-output component, wherein, in the second portion:

for the first color, there is a first number of emissive sub-pixels and there is one emissive sub-pixel for each thin-film transistor sub-pixel;

for the second color, there is a second number of emissive sub-pixels and there are two emissive sub-pixels for each thin-film transistor sub-pixel; and

for the third color, there is a third number of emissive sub-pixels, the first number is less than the second or third numbers, and there are two emissive sub-pixels for each thin-film transistor sub-pixel.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the first color is blue.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the first color is green.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein rows of the green emissive sub-pixels in the second portion are shifted relative to corresponding rows of the green emissive sub-pixels in the first portion.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the thin-film transistor sub-pixels for the second portion are evenly distributed across the second portion.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein, in the second portion, pairs of emissive sub-pixels of the second color are shorted together and pairs of emissive sub-pixels of the third color are shorted together.

7. An electronic device, comprising:

an input-output component; and

a display having an array of pixels, wherein the display has a first portion having a first pixel density and a second portion having a second pixel density that is lower than the first pixel density, wherein the second portion overlaps the input-output component, wherein the second portion of the display includes emissive sub-pixels that emit light and thin-film transistor sub-pixels that control the emissive sub-pixels, wherein each thin-film transistor sub-pixel in the second portion of the display controls two respective emissive sub-pixels, wherein the emissive sub-pixels are arranged in an array of rows and columns, wherein, in the second portion of the display, a first emissive sub-pixel of a first color in a first row and a first column is shorted to a second emissive sub-pixel of the first color in the first row and a second column, wherein the second emissive sub-pixel is adjacent to the first emissive sub-pixel in a first direction, wherein, in the second portion of the display, a third emissive sub-pixel of the first color in a second row and the first column is shorted to a fourth emissive sub-pixel of the first color in the second row and a third column, wherein the fourth emissive sub-pixel is adjacent to the third emissive sub-pixel in a second direction, wherein the second row is adjacent to the first row, and wherein the second direction is opposite the first direction.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , wherein the second column is subsequent to the first column and the third column precedes the first column.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , wherein the first color is blue or red.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , wherein, in the second portion of the display, a fifth emissive sub-pixel of a second color in the first row and a fourth column is shorted to a sixth emissive sub-pixel of the second color in the first row that is adjacent to the fifth emissive sub-pixel in the first direction and wherein, in the second portion of the display, a seventh emissive sub-pixel of the second color in the second row and the fourth column is shorted to an eighth emissive sub-pixel of the second color in the second row that is adjacent to the seventh emissive sub-pixel in the second direction.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 10 , wherein the first color is blue and the second color is red.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , wherein, in the second portion of the display, a fifth emissive sub-pixel of a second color in the first row and a fourth column is shorted to a sixth emissive sub-pixel of the second color in the first row that is adjacent to the fifth emissive sub-pixel in the first direction and wherein, in the second portion of the display, a seventh emissive sub-pixel of the second color in the second row and the fourth column is shorted to an eighth emissive sub-pixel of the second color in the fourth row that is adjacent to the seventh emissive sub-pixel in the first direction.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 , wherein the first color is blue or red and the second color is green.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , wherein the second direction is parallel to the first direction.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 7 , wherein the thin-film transistor sub-pixels are evenly distributed across the second portion.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 22, 2022
From: CUI, YUE; YANG, SHYUAN; GUILLOU, JEAN-PIERRE S; RIEUTORT-LOUIS, WARREN S; QIAO, YI; TSAI, TSUNG-TING; PETERSON, RICARDO A; CHE, YUCHI; JAMSHIDI ROUDBARI, ABBAS
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 059061/0758 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 63256438 · Oct 15, 2021
Provisional Application 63173981 · Apr 12, 2021
Provisional Application 63169741 · Apr 1, 2021
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