Samsung shows off new display technology that adds a privacy screen to apps and notifications

At the Samsung Galaxy S26 live event on Wednesday, the company introduced new display technology that allows users to turn on Privacy Mode and prevent so-called “shoulder browsing” on a per-app basis. The display technology will provide a smarter, more flexible alternative to privacy films, which are placed over a smartphone screen to limit viewing unless you’re looking directly at the phone.

As Samsung pointed out, these traditional privacy films come with trade-offs — like dim screens or more hassle when you’re trying to show someone else something on your phone.

Its solution is a new display technology for mobile devices that uses two different types of pixels: narrow pixels and wide pixels. This structure, which Samsung calls Black Matrix, will narrow the path of light emitted by each pixel to precisely control the light visible to you when Privacy Mode is enabled. When turned off, the standard expanded pixel works with the narrow pixels to deliver light in every direction.

The Privacy View feature is also customizable, so you can set certain apps or notifications to turn on Privacy Mode, while other apps are displayed normally. For example, you can set your messaging or banking app to always display in private mode, but leave it disabled for other apps where privacy isn’t as important. This flexibility also extends to notifications, essentially blocking out some alerts when viewed from a side angle.

Samsung says there’s also a “Maximum Privacy Protection” setting, which further intensifies the privacy effect by lowering bright areas and raising dark areas.

The new display will initially be available on the high-end Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphone, which also includes support for improved and faster AI and a custom chipset.

The Privacy Screen was demonstrated live on stage during the event on Wednesday, with creator Miles Franklin (of MilesAboveTech) demonstrating the technology in action. In the demo, the feature appears to work as advertised, including smaller on-screen items like specific notifications.

The company had teased this technology before Wednesday’s event, but has not yet explained how it will work. She noted that the feature will work with specific applications, protecting users when entering personal identification numbers, patterns, or passcodes.