AR smart glasses just got the display upgrade that they’ve needed for years

As Meta, Apple, Google, and Samsung prepare for a post-smartphone world, their new products — AR smart glasses — need to excel in the display and battery life departments. A new innovation from Omnivision might have just solved that problem, as the company has just announced its newest display for smart glasses.

Lowest-power full-color display for smart glasses

Omnivision’s new display is the industry’s only single-chip LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) display panel. It has a resolution of 1632 x 1536, and can achieve a refresh rate of 90 Hz.

The display is tiny, delivering the aforementioned specs in a 0.26 inch optical format. But its biggest strength is in the fact that, because of its single-chip design, the display manages to deliver crisp visuals with even lower power consumption requirements.

What this means for AR smart glasses

So, what does this breakthrough mean for AR smart glasses? Omnivision is partnering with manufacturers pushing such glasses, hoping for better, more efficient products very soon.

One of the biggest problems affecting AR smart glasses is battery life. Even the Meta Orion glasses, which were 10 years in the making, aren’t ready for consumer release because of the cost of manufacturing, and the limitations when it comes to battery life.

The super compact form factor means that any glasses with a display struggle with abysmal screen-on time. But if displays like this new Omnivision one go mainstream, manufacturers can get started on eliminating this crucial problem.

Innovative changes, like the single-chip design, are needed to keep pushing this industry forward until smart glasses are good enough to replace smartphones entirely.

Just what the doctor ordered

I, personally, hope to see Omnivision’s display — and the single-chip design in general — in use soon across AR smart glasses. Both Meta and Apple are hoping for a 2027 release for their consumer-grade smart glasses, and Samsung might follow suit now that Galaxy XR is out.

But, naturally, until AR smart glasses can look like normal eyewear and last all day long like your phone, they are unlikely to catch on with the average consumer. Which is why it is crucial for these manufacturers to start prioritizing battery life and display clarity right now, instead of boasting about shaving off millimeters each year.