Apple Inc.
Electronic Devices With Ambient Light Sensors and Emissive Displays

Abstract:

An electronic device may have a display with an array of pixels that display images for a user. The electronic device may have an ambient light sensor for gathering ambient light information. A subset of the pixels in the array of pixels may overlap the ambient light sensor so that ambient light passing through the subset of pixels may be measured. Each pixel may have an emission enable transistor coupled in series with a light-emitting diode. Control circuitry in the electronic device may disable the subset of pixels to reduce stray light during ambient light measurements while enabling remaining pixels in the array of pixels to display an image. Ambient light sensor circuitry may gather ambient light sensor measurements over one or more periods by using transfer transistors to transfer change from the photodetectors to charge storage capacitors formed from floating diffusions in a common substrate.