At Samsung’s Galaxy S26 live event on Wednesday, the company introduced a new display technology that allows users to turn on a privacy mode to prevent so-called “shoulder surfing” on a per-app basis. This display tech offers a smarter and more flexible alternative to traditional privacy films, which are overlaid on a smartphone’s screen to limit viewing angles. As Samsung pointed out, these films come with trade-offs like dimmer screens or difficulties when trying to show your screen to someone else.
The solution is a new display technology for mobile devices that uses two different types of pixels: narrow pixels and wide pixels. This architecture, which Samsung calls Black Matrix, narrows the path of light emitted from each pixel to precisely control what is visible when privacy mode is enabled. When the mode is turned off, a widened standard pixel works with the narrow pixels to deliver light in every direction for normal viewing.
The Privacy Display feature is customizable, allowing users to set certain apps or notifications to trigger privacy mode while others are viewed normally. For instance, you could set your messaging or banking app to always display in private mode, but leave it off for apps where privacy is less of a concern. This flexibility also extends to notifications, essentially blacking out certain alerts when viewed from a side angle.
Samsung says there is also a setting for maximum privacy protection, which intensifies the effect by bringing down the bright areas and lifting the darker ones. The new display will initially be available on the high-end Galaxy S26 Ultra smartphone, which also includes support for upgraded, faster AI and a custom chipset.
The privacy screen was demonstrated live on stage during the event by creator Miles Franklin of MilesAboveTech. In the demo, the feature appeared to work as advertised, even for smaller screen elements like specific notifications. The company had teased the technology ahead of the event but had not yet explained how it would work, noting that the feature would protect users when entering PINs, patterns, or passcodes in specific apps.