Future Mac laptops could have adjustable viewing angles to preserve privacy as evidenced by a newly granted Apple patent (number US 11822165 B1) for “Displays With Adjustable Angles of View.”
About the patent
In the patent Apple notes that displays are typically designed to display images over a relatively wide angle of view to accommodate movements in the position of a viewer relative to the display. In some situations, such as when a user of a laptop or other device with a display is using the device in public, the wide viewing angle is undesirable as it compromises privacy.
Apple’s idea is to equip laptops with an “electrically controllable filter,” which would allow a user to control just how polarized or not the screen is. This tech would be built into the Mac itself.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s (very technical) abstract of the patent: “A display may have display layers that form an array of pixels. An angle-of-view adjustment layer may overlap the display layers. The angle-of-view adjustment layer may include an array of adjustable light blocking structures formed from electrochromic material. The electrochromic material may be interposed between first and second electrode layers.
“When it is desired to operate the display in a private viewing mode, control circuitry may apply a current to the first and second electrodes that causes the electrochromic material to become more opaque, thereby restricting the angle of view of the display. When it is desired to operate the display in a public viewing mode, control circuitry may apply a current to the first and second electrodes that causes the electrochromic material to become more transparent, thereby opening up the angle of view of the display.”
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today