Synaptics has announced the Natural ID FS9100, an optical fingerprint sensor that can read prints through 1mm of glass.
Synpatics’ previous solutions were limited to glass just 300μm thick. The company says the typical cover glass for smartphones is about 1mm thick, making the FS9100 ideal for handsets. Like Synpatics’ other fingerprint sensors, the FS9100 will let hardware companies hide the fingerprint sensor under glass.
The company claims the sensor permits wet finger reading, and, because it is protected by glass, is durable, scratchproof, and free from ESD concerns. It supports SentryPoint tech for secure authentication and PurePrint anti-spoofing to distinguish between real and fake fingers.
Synaptics believes its improved technology gives device makers even more freedom to create phones and tablets that don’t have buttons cluttering up the design. Synaptics says it expects to sample the sensor during the first quarter of 2017.
