Galaxy S27 Ultra to Get Brighter Privacy Display, Reports Say

How the current system works

In the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung did not rely on a software trick or a stick-on film. The display's pixels are physically split into two groups: standard wide-angle pixels and narrow ones surrounded by taller walls that direct light straight ahead. With the feature off, the panel keeps its usual sharpness, viewing angles and colors. When it is on, the wide-angle pixels are heavily dimmed or switched off, so someone looking from the side sees only a dark or gray patch.

The protection can be tuned. Users can enable it only for notifications, PIN entry or banking passwords, or tie it to automated routines, such as activating it on arrival at the office. A Maximum Privacy mode deliberately degrades contrast and black levels to block side views, at a clear cost to image quality.

What Samsung wants to fix

Because the feature disables roughly half of the pixels, peak brightness fell by about half. An anti-reflective coating still kept content readable at around 800 nits, but the drop was noticeable in direct sunlight. Users also pointed to lower peak brightness even with the feature off, image graying, sharpness issues and faster eye fatigue.

Samsung is now said to be raising the base brightness of the panels significantly, so the improved Privacy Display works without drastic compromises, even on sunny days.

Xiaomi has already moved in this direction with Smart Privacy Display on its Super Pixel 2.0 screens. It combines hardware and software, allowing selective protection on floating app windows, in split-screen mode and even on individual notifications. Some sources suggest Samsung may follow a similar path, though none of this has been confirmed by the company.