As handset makers try to make bezels as small as possible, the front-facing camera still stands awkwardly in the way. It is too popular a feature to simply discard, and previous solutions (cutouts, pinholes, or pop-up cameras) all have drawbacks that make them incomplete solutions.

The current holy grail is the selfie camera at the bottom of the screen. The camera still exists, but if it's not visible to the eye, it's not visible and it doesn't matter. Xiaomi also showed off this technology in prototype form in 2019, but to date only one phone with under-screen camera technology has shipped.

That Samsung is working on an under-display camera is not surprising, and the patent discovered by Let's Go Digital gives us a clue as to how it might actually work. The patent, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, calls it simply a "display device" and imagines a cell phone with two separate panels.

Why the need for two separate panels? The panel with the selfie camera on the bottom would have higher light transmission and lower resolution, allowing the lens (and possibly a flash module and infrared blaster) to be used through the screen.

The image below via Let's Go Digital shows some possible locations for the second screen. It is highlighted here for clarity, but obviously, on a commercially available cell phone, the screens would be displayed seamlessly as one.

However, one imagines that Samsung would at least initially be looking at a smaller footprint, as seen in the image on the right; with the lower resolution of the second screen, the company would want to take up as little space as possible.

Of course, even an area of the screen where the resolution is obviously low would be preferable to the current Samsung solution, where the screen is replaced by a camera lens, a perfect circular hole in whatever movie you are watching.

The million dollar question is when this technology will be included in Samsung phones. If current rumors are to be believed, it will not be in the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is scheduled for release on Thursday. We have previously heard that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 may have an under-screen camera.

Then there is "none of the above." After all, Xiaomi demoed similar technology 19 months ago, but it has yet to debut; fingers crossed we'll see something in 2021, but it wouldn't be at all surprising if Samsung decided it needed a little more time before making it to the show.