阅读说明：本技术 用于改进显示器下方传感器的性能的方法和配置 (Method and arrangement for improving performance of sensors under a display ) 是由 W·S·列托特-路易斯 郑宇植 A·詹希迪·劳德巴里 叶信宏 C·E·格拉佐夫斯基 J-P 于 2020-04-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种电子设备,该电子设备可包括显示器和位于该显示器下方的传感器。该显示器可包括用于向该电子设备的用户显示图像的子像素阵列。可在像素移除区域中选择性地移除该子像素阵列的至少一部分,以增加穿过该显示器到达该传感器的光透射率。该像素移除区域可包括多个无像素区域,该无像素区域没有薄膜晶体管结构、没有电源线、由于重新布线的行/列线而具有连续的开放区域、部分地没有触摸电路、可选地包括虚拟触点和/或具有选择性图案化的显示层。(An electronic device may include a display and a sensor located below the display. The display may include an array of subpixels for displaying an image to a user of the electronic device. At least a portion of the array of subpixels may be selectively removed in a pixel removal area to increase light transmittance through the display to the sensor. The pixel removal area may include a plurality of non-pixel areas that are free of thin film transistor structures, free of power supply lines, have continuous open areas due to rewired row/column lines, partially free of touch circuitry, optionally include dummy contacts, and/or have a selectively patterned display layer.)

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a display having pixels formed in an active area; and

a sensor located below the display, wherein the display includes a pixel removal region at least partially overlapping the sensor, wherein the active region has a first pixel density, and wherein the pixel removal region has a second pixel density less than the first pixel density.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region comprises a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions being free of thin film transistors, and wherein the plurality of non-pixel regions are configured to increase signal transmittance through the display to the sensor.

3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of non-pixel regions has no power supply line.

4. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein horizontal and vertical control lines in the plurality of non-pixel regions are rerouted to provide a continuous open area that reduces an amount of diffraction of light passing through the display to the sensor.

5. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of non-pixel regions comprises a plurality of rows of continuous open areas within the pixel removal region.

6. The electronic device of claim 2, further comprising:

an opaque mask having openings aligned with the plurality of non-pixel regions.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second pixel density is half of the first pixel density.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second pixel density is less than half of the first pixel density.

9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the display includes an additional pixel removal area physically separate from the pixel removal area.

10. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the additional pixel removal region has a different size than the pixel removal region.

11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal area overlaps an entire edge of the display.

12. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal area overlaps a corner of the display.

13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal area overlaps a curved edge of the display.

14. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region overlaps a recessed notch region in the display.

15. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal area overlaps an entire surface of the display.

16. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region includes a first sub-pixel of a first color and a second sub-pixel of a second color, and wherein a density of the first sub-pixel is different than a density of the second sub-pixel in the pixel removal region.

17. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region includes a blue sub-pixel and a red sub-pixel, and wherein a density of the blue sub-pixel is lower than a density of the red sub-pixel in the pixel removal region.

18. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region includes a green sub-pixel, a blue sub-pixel, and a red sub-pixel, and wherein, in the pixel removal region, a density of the blue sub-pixel is equal to a density of the blue sub-pixel and equal to a density of the red sub-pixel.

19. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel in the active area comprises a first subpixel, and wherein the pixel removal area comprises a second subpixel having a larger diode than the first subpixel of the active area to mitigate aging.

20. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

a conductive touch sensor grid formed over the display, wherein the conductive touch sensor overlaps the pixel removal area.

21. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

a conductive touch sensor grid formed over the display, wherein the conductive touch sensor grid does not overlap the pixel removal area.

22. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region comprises a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions lacking a virtual contact.

23. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the pixel removal region comprises a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions comprising a dummy contact configured to provide emission current uniformity in the pixel removal region.

24. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the display includes a capping layer selectively patterned in the pixel removal regions to increase transmittance of light through the display to the sensor, and wherein the capping layer is a display layer selected from the group consisting of a substrate protection layer, a gate dielectric layer, an inorganic passivation layer, and an organic pixel defining layer.

25. A display, comprising:

a pixel formed in the active area; and

a pixel formed in a given area within the active area, wherein the pixel located in the active area is formed at a first pixel density, and wherein the pixel located in the given area is formed at a second pixel density that is less than the first pixel density to increase a transmittance of light passing through the given area.

26. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

a display stack having a plurality of overlying display layers; and

an optical sensor at least partially covered by the display stack, wherein at least some of the cover display layers are patterned to increase light transmittance through the display stack to the optical sensor.

Background

The present disclosure relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly to electronic devices having displays.

Electronic devices typically include a display. For example, the electronic device may have an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display based on organic light emitting diode pixels. In this type of display, each pixel includes a light emitting diode and a thin film transistor for controlling the application of a signal to the light emitting diode to generate light. The light emitting diode may include an OLED layer positioned between an anode and a cathode.

There is a trend toward borderless electronic devices with full-screen displays. However, these devices may still need to include sensors such as cameras, ambient light sensors, and proximity sensors to provide other device capabilities. Since the display now covers the entire front face of the electronic device, the sensor would have to be placed under the display stack-up. However, in practice, the amount of light transmission through the display stack is very low (i.e. transmission may be less than 20% in the visible spectrum), which severely limits the sensing performance under the display.

It is in this case that the embodiments herein result.

Disclosure of Invention

An electronic device may include a display and an optical sensor formed below the display. The pixel removal area on the display may at least partially overlap the sensor. The pixel removal region may include a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of which does not include a thin film transistor. The plurality of non-pixel regions are configured to increase transmittance of light through the display to the sensor. In one suitable arrangement, half of all display sub-pixels in the pixel removal area may be removed to increase the transmittance of light through the display to the sensor. Typically, 10% to 90% of all display sub-pixels in the pixel removal area may be removed to increase the transmittance of light through the display to the sensor.

According to one implementation, a subset of all display subpixels in a pixel removal area may be removed by iteratively eliminating nearest neighbor subpixels of the same color. The display may include more than one pixel removal area having the same or different size/shape. The pixel removal area may cover the entire edge of the display. The pixel removal area may cover a corner of the display. The pixel removal area may cover a notch area in the display. The pixel removal area may also cover the entire display area. The pixel removal area can optionally cover any portion of the display.

The plurality of non-pixel regions may also be devoid of vertical power routing traces. If desired, at least some of the horizontal and vertical control lines in the plurality of non-pixel areas are rerouted to provide a continuous open area that reduces the amount of diffraction of light passing through the display to the sensor. Each of the plurality of non-pixel regions can also be free of dummy contacts, or can optionally include dummy contacts, to help provide emission current uniformity in the pixel removal region.

The electronic device may also include a grid of conductive touch sensors formed on the display. In one suitable arrangement, the conductive touch sensor grid is not removed from the pixel removal areas. In another suitable arrangement, the conductive touch sensor grid is completely removed from the pixel removal areas. In yet another suitable arrangement, the conductive touch sensor grid is only partially removed from the pixel removal area. The display may also include a cover layer selectively patterned in the pixel removal regions to increase the transmittance of light through the display to the sensor. The capping layer may be a display layer selected from the group consisting of a substrate protection layer, a gate dielectric layer, an inorganic passivation layer, and an organic pixel defining layer.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device having a display and one or more sensors, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of an exemplary display having light emitting elements according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2B is a circuit diagram of an exemplary display pixel according to one implementation.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary display stack at least partially covering a sensor in accordance with one embodiment.

Fig. 4A-4D are top views illustrating various pixel removal schemes for improving optical transmission according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5A is a top layout diagram showing how a red subpixel may be systematically removed according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a top layout diagram illustrating how additional red subpixels may be further systematically removed from the arrangement of FIG. 5A, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an exemplary pixel removal scheme following the process illustrated in fig. 5A, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6C is an illustration showing non-uniform sub-pixel omission, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 6D is a diagram illustrating another exemplary pixel removal scheme in accordance with one embodiment.

Fig. 6E is a diagram illustrating a vertical pixel removal scheme according to one embodiment.

Fig. 6F is an illustration of a pixel arrangement after two pixel removal iterations, according to an embodiment.

Fig. 6G is an illustration of a pixel arrangement with more green sub-pixels removed, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 6H is an illustration of a non-pentile pixel arrangement after pixel removal, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 7A-7F are front views of an electronic device display showing how the display may have one or more local regions where pixels are selectively removed using the schemes of fig. 4-6, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7G is a cross-sectional side view of an electronic device display showing how the display may have one or more local regions where pixels are selectively removed at curved edges, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 8A is a top layout diagram illustrating how sub-pixel transistors may be selectively removed to increase transmissivity, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 8B is a top layout diagram showing how the power supply lines on the removed transistors may also be omitted to further increase transmissivity, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 8C is a top layout diagram illustrating how horizontal routing lines and vertical routing lines may be rerouted to provide a larger continuous opening to reduce optical diffraction, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 8D is a top layout diagram illustrating how sub-pixel structures are repositioned along a single row according to one embodiment.

Fig. 8E is a top layout diagram illustrating how the size of a sub-pixel structure may be enlarged, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 8F is a top layout diagram illustrating how an opaque mask may be used to define an aperture opening, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 9A is a top layout diagram illustrating an exemplary touch conductive grid circuit formed over a pixel removal area, according to one embodiment.

Fig. 9B is a top layout diagram illustrating how a touch conductive grid circuit can be partially removed over a pixel removal area according to one embodiment.

Fig. 10A is a top layout diagram illustrating how the regions where the sub-pixel transistors have been removed lack dummy contacts according to one embodiment.

Fig. 10B is a top layout diagram showing how the regions where the sub-pixel transistors have been removed include dummy contacts according to one embodiment.

Fig. 10C is a graph of emission current versus gate-source voltage, illustrating how the presence of a dummy contact can help improve emission current distribution, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display stack up showing how at least some of the cover layers within the display stack up can be selectively patterned to improve optical transmittance, according to one embodiment.

Detailed Description

An illustrative electronic device of the type that may have a display is shown in FIG. 1. The electronic device 10 may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device (such as a wristwatch device, a hanging device, a headset or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses, or other equipment worn on the user's head, or other wearable or miniature device), a display, a computer display containing an embedded computer, a computer display not containing an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system (such as a system in which the electronic equipment with a display is installed in a kiosk or automobile), or other electronic equipment. The electronic device 10 may have the shape of a pair of glasses (e.g., a support frame), may form an enclosure having the shape of a helmet, or may have other configurations for assisting in mounting and securing components of one or more displays on a user's head or near the eyes.

As shown in FIG. 1, electronic device 10 may include control circuitry 16 to support operation of device 10. The control circuitry 16 may include storage devices, such as hard disk drive storage devices, non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically programmable read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static random access memory or dynamic random access memory), and so forth. Processing circuitry in control circuitry 16 may be used to control the operation of device 10. The processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, and the like.

Input-output circuitry in device 10, such as input-output device 12, may be used to allow data to be provided to device 10, and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to external devices. Input-output devices 12 may include buttons, joysticks, scroll wheels, touch pads, keypads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators, cameras, sensors, light emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, and the like. A user may control the operation of device 10 by input resource provisioning commands through input-output device 12 and may receive status information and other output from device 10 using output resources of input-output device 12.

Input-output devices 12 may include one or more displays, such as display 14. The display 14 may be a touch screen display including touch sensors for collecting touch input from a user, or the display 14 may be touch insensitive. The touch sensors of display 14 may be based on an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes, an acoustic touch sensor structure, a resistive touch component, a force-based touch sensor structure, a light-based touch sensor, or other suitable touch sensor arrangements. The touch sensors for display 14 may be formed from electrodes formed on a common display substrate with the display pixels of display 14, or may be formed from separate touch sensor panels that overlap the pixels of display 14. If desired, the display 14 may be touch insensitive (i.e., the touch sensor may be omitted). The display 14 in the electronic device 10 may be a heads-up display that is viewable without requiring the user to be away from a typical viewpoint, or may be a head-mounted display incorporated into a device worn on the user's head. The display 14 may also be a holographic display for displaying holograms, if desired.

Control circuitry 16 may be used to run software, such as operating system code and applications, on device 10. During operation of the device 10, software running on the control circuit 16 may display images on the display 14.

The input-output device 12 may also include one or more sensors 13, such as force sensors (e.g., strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, resistive force sensors, etc.), audio sensors such as microphones, touch and/or proximity sensors such as capacitive sensors (e.g., two-dimensional capacitive touch sensors associated with a display, and/or touch sensors forming buttons, trackpads, or other input devices not associated with a display), and other sensors. According to some embodiments, the sensors 13 may include optical sensors such as optical sensors that emit and detect light (e.g., optical proximity sensors such as transflective optical proximity structures), ultrasonic sensors, and/or other touch sensors and/or proximity sensors, monochromatic and color ambient light sensors, image sensors, fingerprint sensors, temperature sensors, proximity sensors and other sensors for measuring three-dimensional contactless gestures ("air gestures"), pressure sensors, sensors for detecting position, orientation and/or motion (e.g., accelerometers, magnetic sensors (such as compass sensors), gyroscopes and/or inertial measurement units containing some or all of these sensors), health sensors, radio frequency sensors, depth sensors (e.g., structured light sensors and/or depth sensors based on stereoscopic imaging devices), Optical sensors, such as self-mixing sensors and optical detection and ranging (lidar) sensors that collect time-of-flight measurements, humidity sensors, moisture sensors, line-of-sight tracking sensors, and/or other sensors. In some arrangements, device 10 may use sensors 13 and/or other input-output devices to capture user input (e.g., buttons may be used to capture button press inputs, touch sensors overlapping a display may be used to capture user touchscreen inputs, a touch pad may be used to capture touch inputs, a microphone may be used to capture audio inputs, an accelerometer may be used to monitor when a finger contacts an input surface, and thus may be used to capture finger press inputs, etc.).

The display 14 may be an organic light emitting diode display or may be a display based on other types of display technologies. Device configurations in which the display 14 is an organic light emitting diode display are sometimes described herein as examples. However, this is merely exemplary. Any suitable type of display may be used if desired. In general, display 14 may have a rectangular shape (i.e., display 14 may have a rectangular footprint and a rectangular perimeter edge extending around the rectangular footprint) or may have other suitable shapes. The display 14 may be planar or may have a curved profile.

A top view of a portion of display 14 is shown in fig. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2A, display 14 may have an array of pixels 22 formed on a substrate. The pixels 22 may receive data signals through signal paths such as data lines D and may receive one or more control signals through control signal paths such as horizontal control lines G (sometimes referred to as gate lines, scan lines, emission control lines, etc.). There may be any suitable number of rows and columns of pixels 22 in display 14 (e.g., tens or more, hundreds or more, or thousands or more). Each pixel 22 may have a light emitting diode 26 that emits light 24 under the control of a pixel control circuit formed of thin film transistor circuitry, such as thin film transistor 28 and thin film capacitor. The thin film transistor 28 may be a polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor, a semiconductor oxide thin film transistor such as an Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) transistor, or a thin film transistor formed of other semiconductors. Pixels 22 may include light emitting diodes of different colors (e.g., red, green, and blue) to provide display 14 with the ability to display color images, or may be monochrome pixels.

Display driver circuitry may be used to control the operation of the pixels 22. The display driver circuitry may be formed from integrated circuitry, thin film transistor circuitry, and/or other suitable circuitry. Display driver circuitry 30 of FIG. 2A may include communication circuitry for communicating with system control circuitry, such as control circuitry 16 of FIG. 1, via path 32. The path 32 may be formed by traces on a flexible printed circuit or other cable. During operation, control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 16 of FIG. 1) may provide display driver circuitry 30 with information regarding an image to be displayed on display 14.

To display an image on display pixel 22, display driver circuit 30 may provide image data to data line D while issuing clock signals and other control signals to supporting display driver circuits such as gate driver circuit 34 via path 38. Display driver circuitry 30 may also provide clock signals and other control signals to gate driver circuitry 34 on opposite edges of display 14, if desired.

The gate driver circuit 34 (sometimes referred to as a row control circuit) may be implemented as part of an integrated circuit and/or may be implemented using thin film transistor circuitry. Horizontal control lines G in display 14 may carry gate line signals such as scan line signals, emission enable control signals, and other horizontal control signals for controlling each row of display pixels 22. There may be any suitable number of horizontal control signals per row of pixels 22 (e.g., one or more row control signals, two or more row control signals, three or more row control signals, four or more row control signals, etc.).

The area of display 14 where display pixels 22 are formed is sometimes referred to herein as the active area. The electronic device 10 has an outer housing with a peripheral edge. The area around the active area and within the peripheral edge of the device 10 is the border area. The image can only be displayed to the user of the device in the active area. It is generally desirable to minimize the boundary area of the device 10. For example, the device 10 may be provided with a full-screen display 14 that extends across the front face of the device. If desired, display 14 may also be wrapped over the edges of the front face such that at least a portion of the lateral edges or at least a portion of the back surface of device 10 are used for display purposes.

FIG. 2B is a circuit diagram of an exemplary organic light emitting diode display pixel 22 in display 14. As shown in fig. 2B, the display pixel 22 may include a storage capacitor Cst and associated pixel transistors such as a semiconductor oxide transistor Toxide, a driving transistor Tdrive, a data loading transistor Tdata, a first emission transistor Tem1, a second emission transistor Tem2, and an anode reset transistor Tar. Although the transistor Toxide is formed using a semiconductor oxide (e.g., a transistor having an n-type channel formed from a semiconductor oxide such as indium gallium zinc oxide or IGZO), the other transistors may be thin film transistors formed from a semiconductor such as silicon (e.g., a polysilicon channel deposited using a low temperature process, sometimes referred to as "LTPS" or low temperature polysilicon). A semiconductor oxide transistor exhibits lower leakage than a silicon transistor, so implementing the transistor Toxide as a semiconductor oxide transistor will help reduce flicker (e.g., by preventing current leakage away from the gate terminal of the drive transistor Tdrive).

In another suitable arrangement, the transistors Toxide and Tdrive may be implemented as semiconductor-oxide transistors, while the remaining transistors Tdata, Tem1, Tem2, and Tar are LTPS transistors. The transistor Tdrive acts as a drive transistor and has a threshold voltage that is critical to the emission current of the pixel 22. Forming the drive transistor as a top-gate semiconductor-oxide transistor may help reduce hysteresis (e.g., the top-gate IGZO transistor experiences a smaller Vth hysteresis than the silicon transistor) because the threshold voltage of the transistor Tdrive may experience hysteresis. Any of the remaining transistors Tdata, Tem1, Tem2, and Tar may be implemented as a semiconductor oxide transistor, if necessary. In general, any of the transistors Tdrive, Tdata, Tem1, Tem2, and Tar may be an n-type (i.e., n-channel) or p-type (i.e., p-channel) silicon thin film transistor. If desired, the pixel 22 may include more or less than six transistors and/or may include more or less than one internal capacitor.

The display pixels 22 may include organic light emitting devicesA photo diode (OLED) 204. Positive power supply voltage VDDEL may be provided to positive power supply terminal 200, and ground power supply voltage VSSEL may be provided to ground power supply terminal 202. The positive supply voltage VDDEL may be 3V, 4V, 5V, 6V, 7V, 2V to 8V, or any suitable positive supply voltage level. The ground supply voltage VSSEL may be 0V, -1V, -2V, -3V, -4V, -5V, -6V, -7V, or any suitable ground or negative supply voltage level. The state of the drive transistor Tdrive controls the amount of current flowing from terminal 200 to terminal 202 through diode 204 and thus the amount of emitted light from the display pixel 22. The organic light emitting diode 204 may have an associated parasitic capacitance C_OLED(not shown).

Terminal 209 may be used to provide an anode reset voltage Var to help turn off diode 204 when diode 204 is not in use. Thus, terminal 209 is sometimes referred to as an anode reset or initialization line. Control signals from a display driver circuit, such as row driver circuit 34 of FIG. 2A, are provided to control terminals, such as row control terminals 212, 214-1, 214-2, and 214-3. The row control terminal 212 may serve as an emission control terminal (sometimes referred to as an emission line or an emission control line), and the row control terminals 214-1, 214-2, and 214-3 may serve as a first scan control terminal, a second scan control terminal, and a third scan control terminal (sometimes referred to as a scan line or a scan control line). The emission control signal EM may be provided to the terminal 212. The scan control signals SC1, SC2, and SC3 may be applied to the scan terminals 214-1, 214-2, and 214-3, respectively. Data input terminals, such as data signal terminals 210, are coupled to respective data lines D of fig. 2A for receiving image data for display pixels 22. The data terminal 210 may also be referred to as a data line.

In the example of fig. 2B, the transistors Tem1, Tdrive, Tem2, and OLED 304 may be coupled in series between the power supply terminal 200 and the power supply terminal 202. Specifically, the first emission control transistor Tem1 may have a source terminal coupled to the positive power supply terminal 200, a gate terminal receiving the emission control signal EM2 via the emission line 212, and a drain terminal (labeled as Node 1). The terms "source" terminal and "drain" terminal of a transistor are sometimes used interchangeably, and thus may be referred to as "source-drain" terminals. The driving transistor Tdrive may have a source terminal, a gate terminal (labeled Node2), and a drain terminal (labeled Node3) coupled to Node 1. The second emission control transistor Tem2 may have a source terminal coupled to the Node3, a gate terminal also receiving the emission control signal EM via the emission line 212, and a drain terminal (labeled as Node4) coupled to the ground power supply terminal 202 via the light emitting diode 204. Configured in this manner, emission control signal EM may be asserted during the emission phase to turn on transistors Tem1 and Tem2 to allow current to flow through light emitting diode 204.

The storage capacitor Cst may have a first terminal coupled to the positive power supply line 200 and a second terminal coupled to Node 2. The image data loaded into the pixels 22 can be at least partially stored on the pixels 22 by using the capacitor Cst to hold the charge throughout the emission phase. The transistor Toxide may have a source terminal coupled to Node2, a gate terminal configured to receive a scan control signal SC1 via scan line 214-1, and a drain terminal coupled to Node 3. Signal SC1 may be asserted to turn on transistor Toxide, shorting the drain and gate terminals of transistor Tdrive. Transistor configurations in which the gate and drain terminals are shorted are sometimes referred to as being "diode connected".

The data loading transistor Tdata may have a source terminal coupled to the data line 210, a gate terminal configured to receive a scan control signal SC2 via the scan line 214-2, and a drain terminal coupled to the Node 1. Configured in this manner, signal SC2 may be asserted to turn on transistor Tdata, which will allow the data voltage from data line 210 to be loaded onto Node 1. The transistor Tar may have a source terminal coupled to Node4, a gate terminal configured to receive a scan control signal SC3 via scan line 214-3, and a drain terminal coupled to initialization line 209. Configured in this manner, scan control signal SC3 may be asserted to turn on transistor Tar, which drives Node4 to anode reset voltage level Var. The anode reset voltage Var on line 209 may be dynamically biased to different levels during operation of the pixel 22, if desired.

A device 10 having a full-face display 14 covering the entire front face of the device may have to mount the sensor 13 under the display 14. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an exemplary display stack-up of display 14 at least partially covering a sensor, according to one embodiment. As shown in fig. 3, the display stack may include a backing film 300 and a substrate, such as a substrate 302 formed on the backing film 300. The substrate 302 may be formed of glass, metal, plastic, ceramic, sapphire, or other suitable substrate material. In some arrangements, the substrate 302 may be an organic substrate formed of Polyimide (PI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), as examples. The surface of the substrate 302 may optionally be covered with one or more buffer layers (e.g., inorganic buffer layers such as silicon oxide layers, silicon nitride layers, etc.).

A Thin Film Transistor (TFT) layer 304 may be formed over the substrate 302. The TFT layer 304 may include thin film transistor circuitry such as thin film transistors, thin film capacitors, associated routing circuitry, and other thin film structures formed within a plurality of metal routing layers and dielectric layers. An Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) layer 306 may be formed over the TFT layer 304. The OLED layers 306 may include a diode cathode layer, a diode anode layer, and an emissive material interposed between the cathode and anode layers.

The circuitry formed in the TFT layer 304 and the OLED layer 306 may be protected by an encapsulation layer 308. For example, the encapsulation layer 308 may include a first inorganic encapsulation layer, an organic encapsulation layer formed on the first inorganic encapsulation layer, and a second inorganic encapsulation layer formed on the organic encapsulation layer. The encapsulation layer 308 formed in this manner may help prevent moisture and other potential contaminants from damaging the conductive circuitry covered by the layer 308.

Adhesive 310 may be utilized to form one or more polarizing films 312 over encapsulation layer 308. The adhesive 310 may be implemented using an Optically Clear Adhesive (OCA) material that provides high transmissivity. Adhesive 314 (e.g., OCA material) may be utilized to form one or more touch layers 316 over polarizing film 312 that implement the touch sensor functionality of touch screen display 14. For example, touch layer 316 can include horizontal touch sensor electrodes and vertical touch sensor electrodes that collectively form an array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes. Finally, the display stack-up may be covered by a cover glass layer 320 formed over the touch layer 316 with an additional adhesive 318 (e.g., OCA material). Cover glass 320 may serve as an outer protective layer for display 14.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the sensor 13 may be formed below the display stack within the electronic device 10. As described above in connection with fig. 1, the sensor 13 may be an optical sensor, such as a camera (e.g., an infrared camera), a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a fingerprint sensor, or other light-based sensor. In such cases, the performance of the sensor 13 depends on the transmission of light through the display stack, as indicated by arrow 350. However, typical display stacks have rather limited transmission characteristics. For example, more than 80% of the light in the visible spectrum may be lost when traveling through the display stack, which makes sensing under the display 14 challenging.

Each of the multiple layers in the display stack helps to reduce light transmission to the sensor 13. In particular, dense thin film transistors and associated routing structures in the TFT layer 304 of the display stack contribute considerably to low transmission. According to one implementation, at least some of the display pixels may be selectively removed in the area of the display stack directly above the sensor 13. The area of display 14 that at least partially covers or overlaps sensor 13 where at least a portion of the display pixels have been removed is sometimes referred to as a "pixel removal area". Each pixel removal area may still have pixels, but only lower density sub-pixels. Removing display pixels in the pixel-free area (e.g., removing transistors and/or capacitors associated with one or more sub-pixels) can greatly help increase transmission and improve performance of the sensor 13 under the display. Thus, the pixel removal area may have a first sub-pixel density, while the remainder of the display (generally collectively referred to as the active area) may exhibit a second ("native") sub-pixel density that is greater than the first sub-pixel density. The native subpixel density of the active area may be at least two, three, four, 1 to 5, or 1 to 10 times the subpixel density of the pixel removal area.

Fig. 4A-4D are top views illustrating various pixel removal regions for improving optical transmission according to some embodiments. By way of example, display 14 may generally include a repeating pixel group 400 that includes a red (R), green (G), and blue (B) sub-pixel. As shown in fig. 4A, each pixel group 400 may include two rows of color subpixels, wherein the top row includes BGRG subpixels in this order, and wherein the bottom row includes RGBG subpixels in this order. This particular pattern is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention. Other color display patterns may be implemented in the display 14 if desired, and the display may include other color sub-pixels (e.g., cyan sub-pixel, magenta sub-pixel, yellow sub-pixel, clear sub-pixel, etc.).

In the example of fig. 4A, every other pixel group 400 has been removed according to a checkerboard pattern. The stippled area shows where the sub-pixel would exist if the removal scheme were not implemented, but now at least partially without the thin film transistor circuit corresponding to the display sub-pixel that has been removed. Each individual stippled region may be referred to as a non-pixel region, a no-pixel region, or a pixel missing region. This type of pixel removal scheme can remove up to 50% of all available display subpixels.

In fig. 4A, each non-pixel region represents eight sub-pixels removed. Fig. 4B shows another pixel removal scheme, where each stippled non-pixel region represents 12 removed sub-pixels in another checkerboard pattern. This type of pixel removal scheme may also remove up to 50% of all available display subpixels. Fig. 4C shows yet another pixel removal scheme, where some stippled non-pixel regions represent four removed sub-pixels, while other stippled non-pixel regions represent only two removed sub-pixels in a repeating mosaic-like pattern. This type of pixel removal scheme may also remove up to 50% of all available display subpixels. Fig. 4D shows yet another pixel removal scheme in each stippled pixel dropout area, representing 12 removed sub-pixels, while removing more than 50% of all available display sub-pixels from the entire pixel removal area.

In general, the amount of pixel removal in the pixel removal area should be carefully selected in order to maximize light transmittance through the display stack while ensuring that the effective Pixels Per Inch (PPI) is still high enough that a user of device 10 will not be able to visually notice any undesirable display artifacts near the pixel removal area on which sensor 13 may be located. The exemplary pixel removal regions of fig. 4A-4D are merely illustrative. If desired, other pixel removal arrangements may be implemented in which up to 10% of the display subpixels have been removed in the pixel removal area, up to 20% of the display subpixels have been removed, up to 30% of the display subpixels have been removed, up to 40% of the display subpixels have been removed, up to 50% of the display subpixels have been removed (i.e., the subpixel density of the pixel removal area may be half that of the native active area), 0 to 50% of the display subpixels have been removed, 10% to 50% of the display subpixels have been removed, 20% to 50% of the display subpixels have been removed, 30% to 50% of the display subpixels have been removed, 51% to 90% of the display subpixels have been removed, or more than 50% of the display subpixels have been removed (i.e., the subpixel density of the pixel removal area may be less than half that of the native active area), to achieve a desired level of optical transmission through the display stack.

The exemplary pixel removal scheme shown in the implementation of fig. 4A-4D may not provide a uniform distribution of sub-pixels across the surface of display 14 in all directions. To provide a uniform distribution of subpixels on the display surface, a smart pixel removal process can be implemented that systematically eliminates the nearest subpixels of the same color (e.g., the nearest neighbors of the same color can be removed). FIG. 5A is a top layout diagram showing how a red subpixel may be systematically removed according to one embodiment. The blue and green sub-pixels are omitted from fig. 5A to help avoid obscuring embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5A, display 14 may initially be provided with an array of red subpixels 22R. The pixel removal process may involve selecting a given sub-pixel, identifying the nearest or nearest neighboring sub-pixel (in terms of distance from the selected sub-pixel), and then eliminating/omitting those identified sub-pixels in the final pixel removal area. For example, subpixel 22R-1 may represent a first selected subpixel. The two closest sub-pixels may then be marked for elimination (as indicated by the mark "X"). Sub-pixel 22R-2 may represent a second selected sub-pixel. The four closest sub-pixels (which include the two previously labeled sub-pixels) may be labeled for elimination. The pixel removal process may be performed on the entire display pixel array for all colors of subpixels.

Fig. 5A shows the resulting sub-pixel array after one pixel removal iteration has been performed. Additional iterations of sub-pixel removal may be performed, if needed, to further increase the transmittance at the expense of lower pixel density. Fig. 5B shows the resulting sub-pixel array after another iteration of pixel removal has been performed (e.g., by again eliminating the second order result of the nearest neighboring sub-pixels). Any suitable number of iterations may be performed, if desired. Systematically removing the subpixels in this manner can provide uniform color balance while maintaining a high PPI.

FIG. 6A shows how sub-pixels of various colors may be removed using a process of the type described in connection with FIG. 5A. As shown in fig. 6A, each pixel group 600 may include two rows of color subpixels, wherein the top row includes RGBG subpixels in that order, and wherein the bottom row includes BGRG subpixels in that order. In particular, in each pixel group 600, the red, green, and first green subpixels may be removed from the first row, while only the second green subpixel is removed from the second row. The final arrangement of pixel removal regions achieved using this method is shown in fig. 6B. As shown in fig. 6B, some stippled pixel missing regions represent three consecutive removed sub-pixels, while other pixel missing regions represent only one removed sub-pixel. This type of pixel removal scheme may also remove 50% of all available display subpixels in the pixel removal area (e.g., the pixel removal area may have a pixel density that is half of the native pixel density of the active area).

Fig. 6C shows another suitable arrangement, in which the additional blue sub-pixel is removed from the configuration of fig. 6A. As shown in fig. 6C, every other pixel group 600 will remove all the blue subpixels. In other words, more blue subpixels may be removed or omitted relative to green or red subpixels (i.e., the density of blue subpixels is lower than the density of red subpixels in the pixel removal area). This example, in which non-uniform sub-pixel removal/omission targeting the blue sub-pixel is merely illustrative and not intended to limit the present embodiment. If desired, more green subpixels may be omitted relative to the blue/red subpixels, more red subpixels may be omitted relative to the blue/green subpixels, or other non-uniform subpixel removal schemes may be implemented. In other suitable embodiments, the degree of omission of all differently colored sub-pixels may be different, which will affect the density of each sub-pixel. As an example, more blue subpixels may be removed than green subpixels, and more green subpixels may be removed than red subpixels (i.e., blue subpixels have the highest removal rate and thus the lowest subpixel density, while red subpixels have the lowest removal rate). As another example, more blue subpixels may be removed than red subpixels, and more red subpixels may be removed than green subpixels (i.e., blue subpixels have the highest removal rate, while green subpixels have the lowest removal rate and therefore the highest subpixel density). As yet another example, more green subpixels may be removed than blue subpixels, and more blue subpixels may be removed than red subpixels (i.e., green subpixels have the highest omission ratio and red subpixels have the lowest omission ratio). Other arrangements may also be implemented.

The example of fig. 6B is merely illustrative, where each individual sub-pixel is shown as a rectangular area with edges parallel to the edges of the display. If desired, each sub-pixel region may have an edge that is angled or rotated relative to the display edge (see, e.g., FIG. 6D). In FIG. 6D, the display edge may be parallel to the X-axis or the Y-axis. The front face of the display may be parallel to the XY plane such that a user of the device views the front face of the display in the Z direction. Portion 610 of fig. 6D shows the native subpixel arrangement prior to removal. Section 612 shows how every other sub-pixel is removed for each color-sub-pixels removed using an "X" label). Portion 614 shows the final pixel configuration with 50% of the sub-pixels removed.

In the example of fig. 6D, the sub-pixels are removed such that there is a horizontal stripe of empty pixel regions (see, e.g., continuous stripe region 615 in portion 614 with no sub-pixels). This is merely illustrative. Sub-pixels can also be removed to create vertical stripes of empty pixel regions if desired (see, e.g., fig. 6E with a continuously striped region 617 without sub-pixels).

Multiple iterations of pixel removal may be performed as described above in connection with fig. 5B. Fig. 6F is an illustration of the pixel arrangement after two pixel removal iterations. The configuration of fig. 6F has an even smaller sub-pixel density than the configuration in portion 614 of fig. 6D (e.g., by again eliminating the nearest neighbor sub-pixels, the second order result may only have half the number of sub-pixels as compared to the first order result). In other words, after two pixel removal iterations, 75% of the original native subpixels may be removed. Any suitable number of iterations may be implemented, if desired. Systematically removing the subpixels in this manner can provide uniform color balance while maintaining a high PPI.

As described above in connection with fig. 6C, non-uniform sub-pixel omission may be achieved. Fig. 6G is a diagram of a pixel arrangement with more green sub-pixels having been removed (e.g., a second pass removal may be performed on only the green sub-pixels). Compared to the configuration in section 614 of fig. 6D, the configuration of fig. 6G has the same number of blue and red subpixels, but only half the number of green subpixels remains. Since the native pixel pair has two green subpixels for each red and blue subpixel pair, eliminating the nearest green neighbor twice may help balance the total number of green, red, and blue subpixels (e.g., the total number of remaining red, green, and blue subpixels may be the same). In other words, in the pixel removal area, the density of the blue sub-pixels is equal to that of the blue sub-pixels, and is equal to that of the red sub-pixels. The remaining green sub-pixels can optionally be enlarged in size, if desired, to help compensate for the reduction in number.

The natural RGBG/BGRG sub-pixel arrangement shown in portion 610 of FIG. 6D may sometimes be referred to as having a "pentile" arrangement. The exemplary pixel removal schemes described herein can also be applied to non-pentile or straight pixel arrangements, if desired. Fig. 6H is an illustration of a non-pentile pixel arrangement after pixel removal. As shown in fig. 6H, the number of the remaining blue, red and green sub-pixels is the same, but the size of the blue region sub-pixel region may be larger than that of the green sub-pixel region, and the size of the green sub-pixel region may be larger than that of the red sub-pixel region. This is merely illustrative. In general, the size of the sub-pixel regions of different colors can be adjusted to obtain the best display performance.

In general, display subpixels may be partially removed from any area of display 14. Fig. 7A-7F are front views illustrating how display 14 according to some embodiments may have one or more local areas in which pixels are selectively removed using the scheme of fig. 4-6. The example of fig. 7A shows the respective local pixel removal areas 700 physically separated from each other (i.e., the respective pixel removal areas 700 are discontinuous). The term "active area" may refer to an area of display 14 that is outside of and does not overlap the pixel removal area. For example, each local area 700 may correspond to three different sensors formed below the display 14. The example of FIG. 7B shows a continuous pixel removal area 702 formed along the top boundary of display 14, which may be suitable when there are many optical sensors positioned near the top edge of device 10. The example of FIG. 7C shows pixel removal regions 704 formed at the corners of display 14. In some arrangements, the corners of display 14 where pixel removal areas 704 are located may be rounded or have a substantially 90 ° angle. The example of fig. 7D shows pixel removal area 706 formed only in a central portion along the top edge of device 10 (i.e., the pixel removal area covers a depressed notch area in the display). Fig. 7E shows another example in which the pixel removal region 708 and the pixel removal region 710 may have different shapes and sizes. Fig. 7F illustrates yet another suitable example where the pixel removal area covers the entire display surface. These examples are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention. Any one or more portions of the display that overlap with the optical-based sensor or other sub-display electrical components may be designated as pixel removal areas/zones, if desired.

In yet another suitable arrangement, the pixel removal region may be formed at a curved edge portion of the display. Fig. 7G is a cross-sectional side view of display 14 showing curved or bent peripheral edge region 20. User 750 may view the front of display 14 by viewing in the direction of arrow 752, which is parallel to the Z-direction. The front of the display 14 is parallel to the XY plane. As shown in fig. 7G, a pixel removal region 714 may be formed in the bent edge portion 20. In general, one or more edges of the device can be curved or bent, and one or more pixel removal regions can optionally be formed in each curved edge portion.

Fig. 8A is a top layout diagram illustrating how some sub-pixels may be selectively removed from a pixel group 600 to increase transmittance according to the pixel removal scheme shown in fig. 6A and 6B. The area marked "subpixel removed" corresponds to a no-pixel area completely devoid of thin film transistors and capacitors that would be present if these subpixels were not removed. Removing the thin film transistor structure, which may include active silicon or other semiconductor material, associated source-drain contacts, and thin film capacitor terminals, may help improve light transmission through the display stack in the non-pixel areas.

As shown in fig. 8A, the red, green, and blue sub-pixels have been removed from the upper portion of the pixel group 600, and only the rightmost green sub-pixel has been removed from the lower portion of the pixel group 600. Fig. 8A also shows various gate (G) lines (e.g., horizontal control lines or row control lines) and data (D) lines (e.g., vertical control lines or column control lines) routed over the thin film transistors associated with each display subpixel. Furthermore, the power lines carrying the power supply voltage ELVDD may also be routed in the vertical column direction. The power lines may also or alternatively be routed in a horizontal direction or in a diagonal manner across the surface of the display, if desired.

The pixel structure of fig. 8A can optionally be rotated or angled with respect to the edge of the display parallel to the X-axis or Y-axis, if desired. As an example, the pixel arrangement of fig. 8A may be rotated by an angle of 45 ° with respect to the X-axis. The pixel structure can be rotated by other suitable angles (e.g., 30 °, 60 °, 90 °, 1 to 89 °, etc.) if desired.

In the example of fig. 8A, the power supply lines (see, e.g., wider vertical routing traces) are still routed over the non-pixel areas, which helps to reduce the overall optical transmittance. According to another suitable arrangement illustrated in fig. 8B, the power supply lines may be selectively removed or omitted from non-pixel regions such as region 850 and region 851 (e.g., from each region where sub-pixels should be removed). As shown in fig. 8B, the wider ELVDD routing traces are not present and are no longer routed through non-pixel region 850 and non-pixel region 851. Even though the ELVDD routing lines are shown as being divided into segments in the vertical direction, the different power segments are still connected together using a conductive power grid 810 formed in a higher routing layer than the ELVDD routing lines. Interconnecting the individual power line segments using power grid 810 allows all remaining subpixels to be properly powered. Selectively eliminating the power routing traces from the non-pixel areas can help to further improve the transmittance in the entire pixel removal area. In the example of fig. 8B, there are still horizontal gate lines and vertical data lines routed over the non-pixel area 850 and the non-pixel area 851, which may contribute to diffraction of light passing through these areas. In some embodiments, these conductive traces can be rerouted to provide a larger continuous opening in the non-pixel area (see, e.g., fig. 8C). As shown in fig. 8C, the gate line G 'and the data line D' may be wired in a more roundabout manner to obtain a larger opening area. Routing the control signal in this manner reduces diffraction, but at the cost of reduced transmission.

In fig. 8A and 8B, the diamond-shaped areas correspond to the OLEDs of each color sub-pixel. In fig. 8B, thin film transistors associated with the blue, green, and red sub-pixels may be formed in the region 856 overlapping the corresponding OLEDs, and thin film transistors associated with the right green sub-pixel may be formed in the region 858. Since the TFT region 856 and the TFT region 858 are discontinuous from each other, the non-pixel region 850 and the non-pixel region 851 are also discontinuous from each other.

Fig. 8D illustrates another suitable arrangement, wherein the thin film transistors associated with the individual green sub-pixels (i.e., the upper right green sub-pixel in pixel group 600) are shifted or repositioned into region 851 so that pixel group 600 can have a continuous no pixel region 860. The OLED of the green sub-pixel may remain unchanged. In other words, all TFT structures are formed in row area 862 and row area 860 may be substantially free of TFT structures to facilitate a larger continuous opening to improve transmissivity.

The amount of current flowing through the drive transistor (e.g., transistor Tdrive in fig. 2B) may be relatively high for the remaining subpixels within the pixel removal area. To help mitigate potential aging effects associated with high drive current levels, the size of the remaining subpixels may be increased (e.g., the size of the OLEDs and/or some associated transistors may be increased). In the example of fig. 8E, the OLEDs of the remaining blue, green, and red subpixels B ', G ', R ' may be relatively larger than the OLEDs in other portions of the display (i.e., relative to the display pixels in the normal active area) having the natural subpixel density. Increasing the OLED can reduce the current density, which helps to extend the lifetime of the diode. If the pixel transistor is amplified, the transistor, such as a drive transistor, may have its width increased and/or gate length decreased to help mitigate any potential accelerated aging effects due to high drive current levels.

Fig. 8F shows another suitable arrangement, showing how an opaque mask, such as mask 870, is used to define the aperture openings. Mask 870 may be formed using existing metal routing layers, pixel definition layers (e.g., black pixel definition layers), and/or other suitable opaque layers. As shown in fig. 8F, the opaque mask 870 may have openings, such as openings 872 that align with corresponding non-pixel regions (i.e., contiguous regions where sub-pixels have been removed below). In general, the opening 872 may have a predetermined shape (e.g., a rectangular window, a circular window, an oval window, an elliptical window, etc.) configured to help control the diffraction pattern of light passing through the opening.

In addition to thin film transistor structures, touch-based circuitry within touch layer 316 (FIG. 3), such as touch sensor traces, may also contribute significantly to low transmission through the display stack-up. Fig. 9A is a top layout diagram illustrating an exemplary touch conductive grid circuit 900 formed over a pixel removal area according to an embodiment. As shown in fig. 9A, the touch grid 900 is not removed (i.e., the touch grid 900 completely overlaps the pixel removal area), and thus the touch functionality is not reduced. At the other extreme, all of the touch grid 900 can be removed from the entire pixel removal area (i.e., the touch grid and pixel removal area are non-overlapping), which provides the highest optical transmission while sacrificing loss of touch functionality in the pixel removal area. However, completely removing the grid 900 may result in a significant difference in contrast between the pixel removal area and the surrounding normal display area. For example, a pixel removal area where the touch grid 900 is completely eliminated may appear more reflective than the surrounding area, which may or may not be acceptable.

Fig. 9B is a top layout diagram illustrating how touch conductive grid circuit 900' is partially removed over a pixel removal area according to another suitable arrangement. As shown in fig. 9B, touch grid 900' may be present on the actual display subpixels, but may not be present on the non-pixel areas where the subpixels have been intelligently removed. Such partial removal of touch circuitry in the pixel removal area may provide improved optical transmittance while providing partial touch functionality and reduced contrast between the pixel removal area and surrounding areas.

Fig. 10A is a top layout diagram illustrating how a pixel-free region (e.g., region 1000) where the sub-pixel transistor structure has been removed lacks dummy contacts, according to one embodiment. The complete absence of virtual contacts in region 1000 helps to maximize light transmission, as the presence of virtual contacts can still block a certain amount of light. According to another suitable arrangement, the non-pixel area 1000 may actually include some dummy contacts even though the underlying transistors have been removed. Although the presence of dummy contacts slightly reduces the transmittance, the inclusion of dummy contacts (which may be formed of polysilicon material) helps provide better polysilicon uniformity during fabrication.

Polysilicon uniformity can affect transistor current distribution as shown in fig. 10C. Fig. 10C is a graph of emission current (I) versus gate-source voltage (Vgs). Curve 1002 may represent the current distribution of an active p-channel transistor adjacent to region 1000 in fig. 10A, while curve 1004 may represent the current distribution of an active p-channel transistor adjacent to region 1000 in fig. 10B. Curve 1004 provides a more ideal current behavior, while curve 1002 provides an offset version of the ideal curve. Thus, including dummy contacts in the non-pixel areas can help maintain transistor current uniformity across the display.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display stack-up showing how at least some of the cover layers within the display stack-up can be selectively patterned to further improve optical transmissivity. Fig. 11 is similar to the cross-section of fig. 3, but is spread out over the TFT layer 304. For example, fig. 11 shows how TFT layer 304 may include a TFT gate dielectric layer 1100, an inorganic passivation layer 1102 formed on TFT gate dielectric layer 1100, one or more organic planarization layers 1104 formed on inorganic passivation layer 1102, and an organic pixel definition layer 1106 formed on organic planarization layer 1104. Further, a protective layer such as a substrate inorganic protective film 303 may be formed between the substrate 302 and the TFT layer 304. In certain embodiments, at least layers 303, 1100, 1102, and/or 1106 (typically a cover layer covering the entire display surface) may be selectively patterned or thinned in pixel removal areas to further improve optical transmission. Other overlying display layers may also be selectively patterned/thinned, if desired, to help increase the transmission of light through the display stack.

According to one embodiment, an electronic device is provided that includes a display having pixels formed in an active area and a sensor located below the display, the display including a pixel removal area at least partially overlapping the sensor, the active area having a first pixel density and the pixel removal area having a second pixel density less than the first pixel density.

According to another embodiment, the pixel removal region includes a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions is free of a thin film transistor, and the plurality of non-pixel regions is configured to increase a signal transmittance through the display to the sensor.

According to another embodiment, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions has no power supply line yet.

According to another embodiment, the horizontal control lines and vertical control lines in the plurality of non-pixel areas are rerouted to provide a continuous open area that reduces the amount of diffraction of light passing through the display to the sensor.

According to another embodiment, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions includes a plurality of rows of continuous open areas within the pixel removal region.

According to another embodiment, an electronic device includes an opaque mask having an opening aligned with a plurality of non-pixel regions.

According to another embodiment, the second pixel density is half of the first pixel density.

According to another embodiment, the second pixel density is less than half of the first pixel density.

According to another embodiment, the display includes an additional pixel removal area physically separated from the pixel removal area.

According to another embodiment, the additional pixel removal area has a different size from the pixel removal area.

According to another implementation, the pixel removal area overlaps the entire edge of the display.

According to another implementation, the pixel removal regions overlap corners of the display.

According to another implementation, the pixel removal area overlaps a curved edge of the display.

According to another implementation, the pixel removal region overlaps a depression notch region in the display.

According to another implementation, the pixel removal area overlaps the entire surface of the display.

According to another embodiment, the pixel removal area includes a first sub-pixel of a first color and a second sub-pixel of a second color, and a density of the first sub-pixel is different from a density of the second sub-pixel in the pixel removal area.

According to another embodiment, the pixel removing region includes a blue sub-pixel and a red sub-pixel, and the density of the blue sub-pixel is lower than the density of the red sub-pixel in the pixel removing region.

According to another embodiment, the pixel removing region includes a green sub-pixel, a blue sub-pixel, and a red sub-pixel, and in the pixel removing region, a density of the blue sub-pixels is equal to a density of the blue sub-pixels and equal to a density of the red sub-pixels.

According to another embodiment, the pixel in the active area comprises a first sub-pixel and the pixel removal area comprises a second sub-pixel having a larger diode than said first sub-pixel of the active area to mitigate aging.

According to another embodiment, an electronic device includes a grid of conductive touch sensors formed over a display, the conductive touch sensors overlapping pixel removal areas.

According to another embodiment, an electronic device includes a conductive touch sensor grid formed over a display, the conductive touch sensor grid not overlapping a pixel removal area.

According to another embodiment, the pixel removal region includes a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions lacking a virtual contact.

According to another embodiment, the pixel removal region includes a plurality of non-pixel regions, each of the plurality of non-pixel regions including a dummy contact configured to provide emission current uniformity in the pixel removal region.

According to another embodiment, the display includes a capping layer selectively patterned in the pixel removal region to increase transmittance of light through the display to the sensor, and the capping layer is a display layer selected from the group consisting of a substrate protection layer, a gate dielectric layer, an inorganic passivation layer, and an organic pixel defining layer.

According to one embodiment, there is provided a display including pixels formed in an active area and pixels formed in a given area within the active area, the pixels in the active area being formed at a first pixel density, and the pixels in the given area being formed at a second pixel density that is less than the first pixel density to increase transmittance of light passing through the given area.

According to one embodiment, there is provided an apparatus comprising a display stack having a plurality of overlying display layers, at least some of the overlying display layers being patterned to increase light transmittance through the display stack to an optical sensor, and an optical sensor at least partially covered by the display stack.

The foregoing is merely exemplary and various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented independently or in any combination.