Xiaomi 18 Pro to debut a privacy display technology different from Samsung’s

Xiaomi is preparing a new display technology for its Xiaomi 18 Pro series designed to protect information from prying eyes. Called 'Smart Privacy Display', the solution can reduce the brightness visible from the sides to approximately 1% when the viewing angle exceeds 60 degrees.

The Chinese company will officially unveil the Xiaomi 18 Pro series on September 23. One of its main new features is this technology, which offers an alternative to the privacy system integrated into the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, unveiled by the South Korean company in February.

Xiaomi’s system is based on an OLED panel whose pixels combine two types of elements in a 1:1 ratio. On the one hand, conventional pixels are designed to provide a wide viewing angle; on the other, pixels specifically dedicated to the privacy function have a narrower viewing angle, as the company explained in a post shared on Weibo.

Under normal conditions, both groups of pixels remain active to display the complete image. When the user activates privacy mode, the conventional pixels are switched off and only those dedicated to the system remain active. These pixels incorporate deflectors designed to limit visibility from the sides.

As a result, the image remains clearly visible to someone looking at the phone from the front, while the brightness falls to around 1% when the viewing angle exceeds approximately 60 degrees. The display therefore becomes considerably darker and appears almost black to anyone trying to view it from the side.

Xiaomi’s solution differs technically from the system used by Samsung in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung’s device uses a 'Diamond Pentile' subpixel configuration, which does not rely on a full RGB structure. Xiaomi, by contrast, uses a full RGB matrix made up of 9.5 million subpixels.

According to the company, this architecture helps maintain image sharpness and avoids the quality loss or visual distortion that can be caused by third-party privacy screen protectors. With privacy mode disabled, the display reaches a peak brightness of 4,000 nits, supports the BT.2020 color gamut and uses a full RGB Super Pixel 2.0 structure, with a level of definition comparable to that of a 2K display.

Activating the privacy protection does result in a slight loss of sharpness when the device is viewed from a very short distance. Xiaomi says, however, that this difference is barely noticeable at a normal viewing distance.

The 'Smart Privacy Display' also includes different settings to adapt its operation to each situation. These include global, app-based and page-based privacy modes, as well as a gaze detection feature that uses the front-facing camera to identify whether someone else is looking at the screen from behind.

The system also allows users to create rules based on specific locations or scenarios. This means privacy can be configured to activate automatically, for example, when the user is at work or in certain locations, and the protection can also be applied to specific elements such as notifications.