Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Galaxy S26 Ultra seemingly introduces a Privacy Display that narrows viewing angles to thwart shoulder surfing.
- This feature uses microscopic gratings and prism-like optics within the screen layers to diffract and reflect off-angle light away from viewers.
- Technical details come from a new leak by Ice Universe, presented in an AI-generated graphic, so the specific mechanics should be treated as unconfirmed.
One of the biggest and most important features of the Galaxy S26 Ultra is set to be the new Privacy Display. We’ve already seen the Privacy Display in action thanks to an early hands-on, and leaks suggest the feature is set to expand to next-generation Android flagships releasing later this year. If you’re yearning for more details on how exactly this feature works, a new leak showcases the technology behind the new Privacy Display feature.
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On X, leaker Ice Universe has shared a deep dive on Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display technology.
During ordinary use, i.e., when the Privacy Display feature is not engaged, the refractive indices of all layers of the display assembly are the same, allowing all light to pass through freely. Unfortunately, this allows people around you to peek at your display and see your screen contents freely.
When the Privacy Display feature is enabled, voltage is applied to the various layers of the display. The bottom-most layer reveals a diffraction structure in the form of a microscopic grating carved into its surface. These gratings act as louvers on window blinds. Light rays that try to pass through at wide angles (anything beyond a straight-on trajectory) undergo diffraction, and their paths are changed from their original trajectories.
These diffracted light rays then crash into the prism-like optical structure on the top layer. Since they hit the prism slopes at extreme angles and there is a refractive index difference, they either get severely distorted or are totally internally reflected, bouncing back into the screen.
As a result, people viewing the display at extreme angles do not see these light rays, so the display appears completely blank. However, for the primary user viewing the display straight on, it remains visible. The end result is narrower viewing angles on demand, which is great for protecting your privacy.
Do note that Samsung has not yet shared these technical details, and the leaker hasn’t mentioned their source. Pixel-peeping at the graphics, it is apparent that some AI was used to generate them. As a result, you should take this technical explanation with a healthy pinch of salt. We hope that Samsung shares a technical deep dive on the Privacy Display feature soon to confirm exactly how it works.
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